Gundam Unicorn: Marida
by Shadow of Sundered Star
Summary: Gundam UC/Gundam Seed/Naruto Crossover. Rescued from near death and adopted at the age of 10 by a Zeon officer, a girl is thrown into a world of giant machines called mobile suits. Discarding her old name and given a powerful mobile suit, she will experience family, friendship, and war. This is the life of a mobile suit pilot named Marida Cruz. (On hiatus)
1. Summary and Info (Updated)

**Summary:In the small habitable moon of Pandora orbiting Jupiter exists remnants of a colonization plan from centuries before the Universal** **Century began.** **Beaten, bruised and neglected Naruko Uzumaki was rescued by a man named Suberoa Zinnerman of Neo Zeon during their patrols near Jupiter. Given a new purpose and a father figure, she abandoned her old name that only brought her nothing but suffering and torture, she was given a new name, Marida Cruz.**

* * *

Character profile:

Name: Marida Cruz/Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze

Race: Human/Newtype

Mobile Suit: MSN-06SF Sinanju, Limited Production Newtype-use High Mobility Mobile Suit, equipped with Funnels

Affiliation: Principality of Zeon/Crew member of the _Garencieres_

Parents: Minato Namikaze

Kushina Cruz (Formerly Uzumaki-Namikaze)

Relatives: Jiraiya - Godfather

Tsunade Senju - Godmother

Outfit: Same as Marida's in Gundam Unicorn

* * *

Name: Kushina Cruz (Formerly Uzumaki-Namikaze)

Race: Human/Newtype

Mobile Suit: MSN-06S Sinanju Limited Production Newtype-use High Mobility Mobile Suit

Affiliation: Prinicipality of Zeon/Crew member of the _Garencieres_

Family: Marida Cruz (Daughter, formerly Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze)

Minato Namikaze (Husband - Divorced)

Outfit: Same as Marida's in Gundam Unicorn

* * *

**NA: I am excited to write this as soon as possible. Hope this turns out well.**


	2. Marida

**October 10, U.C. 0088**

**Jupiter Moon**

**Pandora**

A green triangular shaped ship made its way into the atmosphere of the moon Pandora, the moon was discovered about a decade ago by Federation exploration vessels, now it is being scouted by a Neo-Zeon vessel.

A Geara Doga was being prepared for launch inside the ship's mobile suit hangar. "Hey Suberoa, can you believe there is life on this moon, a single continent surrounded by a body of water? I mean there are settlements down there, their technology though is quite primitive, I mean they do have electricity, but that's pretty much it."

Suberoa sighed, "Cut the chatter Gilboa, and besides we can't afford to reveal ourselves to these people, they might get spooked. Alright launch prep complete, this is Suberoa Zinnerman to the _Garencieres_, Geara Doga, launching!"

The Geara Doga dropped from the ship into the dark side of the moon's atmosphere, the atmosphere was not like Earth's, so there was no need for re-entry equipment. As the mobile suit enters the moon, Suberoa stabilizes the machine using its thrusters, "_Garencieres_, this is Zinnerman, I entered the atmoshpere with no problem, I'm setting down mobile suit near by a forest near a village, I'll keep you updated."

"Copy that Zinnerman, good luck." The _Garenieres' _communications officer answered.

As the Geara Doga touches down, Suberoa moves the machine into a thick part of the forest. He exits the cockpit taking his sidearm, and putting on some more decent clothes as to not arouse suspicion by the locals of this moon. Walking into a clearing he follows the road using a map he mapped out from the ship's computers, taking him to a large Village to the south of him.

As he nears the village's gate, two gate guards approach him wearing what appears to be shinobi wearing flak jackets and forehead protectors, Suberoa narrows his eyes, _'Gilboa was right, their technology is quite backwards compared to ours. The question is, how in the world are humans living in this moon with lack of such technology?'_

The guards approach him, "Welcome to Konoha, state your business."

"Evening gentlemen, I'm just travelling, it's my first time here so I was wondering if there is a place to stay here?" Suberoa hoped his little lie would work.

The guards nodded, "Yeah we do, just head straight up and take a left at the crossroad, to the right of the crossroads is the red light district if you wanna have some real fun." One of them chuckled.

"I'll keep that in mind you two, thank you." Suberoa chuckled as he entered the village, no matter where you are, there will always be places like that.

"Enjoy your stay sir."

Suberoa waved at the guards as he walked, the people are quite nice here. He didn't know the currency of these lands so he brought some gold with him instead. Precious stones and gold were widely used even today as back up currency, especially when you are in deep cover operations.

The hotel was simple, it resembled Japanese hotels back in Earth, thankfully he was quite familiar with them. The food were also oriental in design, they had sushi and other oriental dishes from Asia.

He spent a week, observing the town, keeping the _Garencieres _updated on his observations. On the last night of his stay, he was walking down the street back to his hotel when he heard crying nearby. As he follows the crying gets louder, he turns to an alleyway, as he gets closer he couldn't believe what he is seeing.

In the alleyway was a girl no older than 9-10 years old with light red hair and bluish purple eyes, battered and bruised wearing ripped clothing revealing cuts and lacerations around her body. Suberoa widened his eyes in horror, who could do such a thing to a child?

He steps closer and kneels down, the girl tries to creep away from him, thinking that he is one of the villagers that did this to her.

Suberoa raises his arms, "Shh, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you." He takes out a chocolate candy bar from his pocket and offers it to her, "Take it, it won't hurt you."

The girl hesitated at first, Suberoa just nodded gesturing her to take it, she finally takes the chocolate candy bar and unwraps it. She smelled it first and took a bite, as she bites she widens her eyes in glee and immediately devours the chocolate.

Suberoa frowned, he observed the girl once more, noticing that she was malnourished as well. Another thing he noticed is that she looked so much like his deceased daughter Marie, only with light red hair instead of brown.

"Say kid, why are you like this?" Suberoa couldn't help but ask.

The girl looked at the man, "Because I have a demon inside me."

He raised his eyebrows in both confusion and curiosity. There is a demon inside her? "A demon? Why is there a demon inside you?" he asked once more.

She hesitated but then she heard a voice in her head, **"Go ahead and tell him, he won't hurt you."** "Because he told me that he was controlled in attacking the village ten years ago when I was born, he told me that he is a being of pure energy so he can't be killed. So the Hokage sealed him into me." She then lifted up her shirt showing her stomach.

Suberoa widened his eyes, he watched as markings on her stomach started to appear, _'My god, she's telling the truth.'_ He then looked at her, "Why are you hurt? Who hurt you?"

"The villagers did, they thought I was the demon, so they try to kill when it's my birthday. Today is my birthday I'm 10 now." She looked down in shame.

Suberoa looked at the girl with a sad look, "What's your name?"

The girl frowned, "I don't like my name. I don't want it."

Suberoa then thought of something, he smiled at the girl, "Would you like to come with me?"

She looked at the man with widened eyes, "Really? I can come with you?" she then started twitching violently, falling on her back as the runes on her stomach began to disappear and red energy started seeping out of her, forming a small fox like creature with nine tails. "Gah! Kurama, can you warn me before you do something? What did you do?" The man began reaching for his sidearm, concerned at what the creature is.

The fox chuckled, "Consider it a birthday gift kit, thanks to that scroll you took, I was able to figure out how the seal works, I am now free and you are no longer a demon container, you can finally live your life without me."

The red haired girl gave him a sad look, "Will I see you again? Thanks to you I'm still alive."

Kurama smiled, "Maybe, only time will tell." He then looks at the man, "Look after her, she is one of the few humans I consider close to me."

Suberoa nodded, "I will, Kurama."

Kurama nodded in gratitude, "I will see you later." He opens a red portal and walks through. He disappears as the portal closes.

"I guess you will need a new name since you don't want yours." He thought about it for a second, he had a daughter named Marie once, "Marida, your name will be Marida, what about that?"

The girl smiled, "I like it!"

Suberoa laughed, "Okay then, from now on your name is Marida Cruz. My name is Suberoa Zinnerman, and if you like I can be your new father."

Marida's eyes started watering, she jumped at the man and hugged him, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

He hugged her back, he finally has daughter once more, he knew he couldn't just replace Marie, but at the same time, he couldn't just leave Marida here. "Come on, we better get you out of here."

Marida nods and follows her new father out, Suberoa puts a cloak on top of her as to not reveal to the people who she is.

They reach the village's gate, spotting the gate guards sleeping on the job, Suberoa sighed at the scene, _'And they call themselves shinobi?'_ they simply walk past them silently, when they were far enough they run into the forest back to where Suberoa stored his Geara Doga.

Marida looked at the large metallic figure, she was intimidated at first because of the way it looked, but her new father reassured her that it was safe. They got into the machine's cockpit, Suberoa reached to the left of the seat and pulled out a smaller seat meant for passengers. Marida sat down as she watched her father press some buttons and flip some switches, hearing the machine roar to life. Her father strapped the seatbelts onto her and himself. "Hold on tight Marida, this is going to be a bit of a bumpy ride, we're going to fly out here."

Did she hear that right? They we're going to fly out of here? She looked to her right and then to her left, watching as the trees were getting smaller, her widen to the size of dinner plates, she couldn't believe it, they were really flying. They reach space and Marida couldn't believe it, she was flying in the stars.

As the Geara Doga approaches the _Garencieres_, Suberoa hails the ship, "_Garencieres _this is Lieutenant Suberoa Zinnerman, I'm coming in with a passenger."

"Roger that sir… wait a passenger? Did I hear that right?" Gilboa asked.

Suberoa chuckled, "That's right, we have a passenger, get the med-bay prepped, she's 10 years old and she's injured, locals aren't too friendly."

"Uh right, roger that, prepping the med-bay." Gilboa replied, still confused about the whole thing.

Suberoa gestured to his daughter and pointed to the ship, "See that? That's a space ship, it's called the _Garencieres_, that is where we are staying."

Marida awed at the ship, that is going to be her new home, she is going to live in the stars. Her name is Marida Cruz, and she is now a member of Neo-Zeon.

Sieg Zeon.

**NA: Wow, this is probably going to be my best fanfic yet. It is basically a Gundam Unicorn version of my other story, but with a female Naruto as Marida Cruz instead. Yes I know Marida is a bit OOC in this chapter, but she will be much more serious in the next one, she will no longer a Ple clone in this one, as she will be a true Newtype instead of a Cyber-Newtype. I borrowed Pandora from James Cameron's Avatar and turned it into the Elemental Nations.**

**I'll see you guys next chapter! Please review and….. SIEG ZEON!**


	3. Kshatriya

**NA: And here we are once again! In the Universe that is Gundam. I love Gundam, better than anime I have ever watched.**

**-3 months after Naruko disappeared-**

The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi was having a nightmare, Naruko disappeared without a trace three months ago on her birthday. He felt weak, he felt powerless as the one the girl he treated as his granddaughter is gone, what's worse is that Kushina her mother woke up from her 10 year coma. She blamed Minato for what has happened, because he sealed the Kyuubi into Naruko she lived a life of hell, the villagers would give her dirty looks, and during October 10 her birthday and the day the Kyuubi was defeated, people would attack her as it is the time she is at her most vulnerable.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were informed to come back to Konoha, Tsunade especially was devastated that her goddaughter disappeared, Kushina was like a daughter to her and now little Naruko is nowhere to be found.

Sarutobi relinquished his title of Hokage and gave it to Tsunade, she at first refused but told her that being Hokage was always Naruko's dream, he begged her to do it for Naruko. At that request Tsunade accepted, and every day she would send ANBU around the Elemental Nations searching for her goddaughter. But everytime they return, they find nothing. Kushina would then volunteer to lead the ANBU search parties.

It has been three months since then, and Hiruzen hasn't stopped crying ever since. _'Minato, I failed you, I failed you.'_

* * *

**-8 years later-**

**U.C. 0096**

**The****_ Garencieres_**

**Near Side 4's Industrial 7 colony**

The _Garencieres_ was making its way to Industrial 7 as it was being pursued and fired upon by an enemy ship. Another fire from the Jegan's beam rifle passes, the ship's captain Suberoa Zinnerman orders his crew, "Get the Minovsky Particle diffused to battle density."

"Enemy ship identified to be of Model Grap. Heat signal detected."

"Evade." As soon as Suberoa orders it, another beam fire passes by.

Suberoa enters the ship's bridge, "What's taking so long with those bulkheads!?" Gilboa loudly asks, as the bridge lowers into battle-mode.

The co-pilot then reports, "Intense heat sources emitted from the enemy ship. Possibly two mobile suits. No, three! Approaching at high speed!"

Suberoa then makes his decision, "Send Marida out."

* * *

A large quad-winged mobile suit is being lowered into the launch bay, Marida gets into the cockpit placing her helmet on.

Suberoa then informs her through the comm. "Ignore the mothership, the _Garencieres _can shake it off."

Marida acknowledges, "Roger that. Target acquired, there's a high-speed Jegan, possibly a Special Forces version. "

"That means this isn't a chance encounter. Ten minutes to the debris cluster, wrap things up and get back here." Suberoa replies, giving this whole situation some thought.

She nods, "Roger that, Master."

Suberoa sighs at his daughter's remark, "Stop calling me that." Ever since he started teaching her to be a mobile suit 8 years ago, she wouldn't stop calling her master whenever he teaches her. And now he is her commanding officer, and she still calls him master.

Over the 8 years she has been living in space, her body adapted the environment a lot faster compared to others. Due to the quick adaptation of her body, she became a Newtype, the next stage in human evolution in living in space.

As the large quad-winged mobile suit is deployed for launch, Marida does some final checks and is given the all green, "Marida Cruz, Kshatriya, launching!"

The NZ-666 Kshatriya is a mobile suit based on the NZ-000 Queen Mansa used by the first Neo Zeon War. The Kshatriya is much smaller than the Queen Mansa but has similar, if not equal, firepower. This is accomplished by the four large shoulder binders which are also the reason for the suit's nickname 'Quad-wing', in which each of them mounts a pair of mega particle cannons, beam saber holding sub-arms and six funnels. The main body of the Kshatriya also has four mega particle cannons, two machine cannons and two beam sabers that can also function as beam guns. It can also be fitted with up to six optional Beam Gatling Guns. Although the Kshatriya lacks the "mega particle deflection system" seen on the NZ-000, an I-field barrier generator was installed instead in each of its binders. Its original psycommu system was also replaced with a more effective psychoframe. Although the Kshatriya is a massive mobile suit, it has fairly good mobility thanks to the thruster-mounting binders.

**(Play Gundam Unicorn OST 2 – Track 15)**

The Kshatriya maneuvers itself out of the ship, facing towards the direction of the three enemy mobile suits identified as mass-produced Jegan mobile suits from the Earth Federation. Marida then activates its thrusters and speeds towards the enemy. As she gets closer to the enemy, two of them split off from the heavily armed Stark Jegan.

Marida looks at her radar, "I won't let you near our ship, funnels!" the Kshatriya's binders raise up and deploy 24 miniature flying beam cannons, they separate from the binders surrounding the Kshatriya, Marida closes her eyes, activating her Newtype abilities, acquiring her targets.

As soon as she opens her eyes, the funnels close in on their targets and opened fire, the first Jegan didn't have chance at fighting back as it was being torn apart by the funnel's beam cannons.

The second Jegan opened fire using it's 60mm Vulcans trying to take the funnels out but to no avail, it too was ripped apart by the funnel's beam cannons.

The third one, a more heavily armed version of the Jegans, armed with shoulder mounted missile launchers and a mega bazooka along with a beam rifle, opened fire. The enemy pilot fires his mega bazooka.

Marida immediately stops, using her machine's reverse thrusters and deploys a Psyco barrier negating the rocket. The enemy pilot fires his missiles hoping to hit her. Marida maneuvers around the missiles evading all six of the missiles.

The Stark Jegan pilot presses a few buttons, purging the mobile suit of its weapons, and activates its thrusters going in, initiating close combat as he draws out a beam saber.

The Kshatriya's pilot activates her beam sabers as well as she activates her thrusters, going in for close combat.

The two mobile suits close in as their beam sabers clash creating loud electrical clanging noise. As their blades clash, the Stark Jegan reverses its thrusters to stabilize, and charges in again, this pilot was good, he was no pushover.

Marida does the same, and charges in as well. Both mobile suits clash, this time both blades trying to overpower the other. The Stark Jegan pulls back and positions his blade to a thrusting maneuver, hoping to hit the cockpit.

The Kshatriya spreads it's binders and deploys its Psyco barrier once more, negating the beam saber attack and staggering the Stark Jegan leaving it open to attack, Marida then move the machine's right arm wielding the beam saber and proceeds to bisect the enemy mobile suit along with its pilot.

**(End song)**

As she slices the Stark Jegan in half, she hears a voice in the Psyco wave coming from the bisected Stark Jegan, "Damn Sleeves!"

Marida sighs, "Mission complete, returning to ship." She then removes her helmet, revealing a beautiful girl at the age of 18 with light red hair and bluish purple eyes.

The Kshatriya then turns and heads back to its ship.

**NA: That was fun, It took me a while to write this as this is my first time writing a Mobile Suit battle scene, I wanted to play it exactly like the opening battle in Episode 1 of Gundam Unicorn. This was just basically an introduction to Marida of this fanfic.**

**Please review and I will see you guys on the next chapter! SIEG ZEON!**


	4. Return

**NA: I will be borrowing some elements from Clash of Civilizations written by BloodRavenFan, it was a damn good fanfic, sadly he discontinued it and put it up for adoption for unknown reasons. This will be a short timeskip after Gundam Unicorn Anime/OVA. Meaning I will be writing a semi-original story with some shippuden into it.**

**U.C. 0096**

**1 month after the Laplace Conflict**

**_Garencieres' _****Bridge**

It had been a month since the end of the Laplace Conflict also dubbed the Third Neo Zeon War. Marida had been injured from her constant battles with the Gundam Unicorn and the Gundam Unicorn Banshee. She had been bested, Banagher was a far more powerful Newtype compared to her. Banagher was just a civilian, who was shockingly Cardeas Vist's son, head of the Vist Foundation.

With Full Frontal's death, Zeon was now under the leadership of Princess Mineva Lao Zabi, the last of the Zabi dynasty. After she revealed the contents of Laplace's Box, the Earth-Born were no longer the rulers of the Earth Sphere, as the final contents of the Laplace revealed a shocking truth.

_In the future, should the emergence of a new space-adapted human race be confirmed, the Earth Federation shall give priority to involving them in the administration of the government._

This revalation nearly shattered the Earth Federation, but thanks to Princess Mineva, the Federation is still standing, but now allowed Space-Born to be involved in the Federation's government administration.

It had been a month since then, and Marida was lying down on her bed, she had grown over the 8 years since she joined The Sleeves, she can still be a bit cheerful at times, but had inherited most of her adopted father's seriousness. Gone was the vulnerable and weak 10 year old girl, in its place stood a beautiful 18 year old woman, and one of the best mobile suit pilots of the reformed Principality of Zeon under Sovereign Mineva Lao Zabi of the Zabi family.

Side 3 and it's colonies along with Palau, the original base of The Sleeves, were being relocated to Jupiter. Mineva proposed the plan, which surprisingly garnered wide acceptance among the people of Side 3; despite the encouraging changes in the Earth Sphere, many wanted to leave the blood-stained realm of Earth and start a new life elsewhere, and Mineva fully understood their sentiments. Jupiter was a perfect place, it practically had unlimited supply of hydrogen that can be used for fuel, and its moons like Pandora were capable of sustain life, not to mention it was right beside the Asteroid Belt.

Marida couldn't believe it though, she was going back to Jupiter, she was no longer bothered by it, but she still hasn't forgotten the torment she went through. Her comm system in her left sleeve went off.

"Marida, you there?" The voice of her father called her through the commlink.

"Father, is it time?" She answered.

Suberoa confirmed, "Yeah, we're going to Jupiter. Mineva is waiting for you in the bridge; she probably has some questions since you are from there."

Marida nodded, "I'll be there right away."

She floated out of her room, ships in the Universal Century still did not have artificial gravity, so maneuvering through zero-gravity was a common thing in space ships. She floated past the hangar where her Kshatriya and surprisingly enough the Unicorn was stored as well. It was no secret that Bangher and Mineva we're together, after the conflict they officially got together, and decided to come as well, joining Zeon's mobile suit corps.

She reaches the ship's bridge with her father, Mineva and Bangher waiting for her. Mineva spots Marida entering the bridge and gave her smile, "Lieutenant Marida Cruz, thank you for coming."

Marida gave her a bow, "Thank you for having me your highness."

Mineva giggled, "No need to be so formal Marida, I just wanted to ask you what it's like on Pandora."

Marida stiffened a bit at the mention of the moon she was born in, "Pandora is a habitable moon, along with its sister moons orbiting around Jupiter, as you may know I was born there, it's wildlife aren't like Earth's as they are considerably much larger, along with sentient beings of energy that take the forms of different animals, for example a fox. As for resources, the moons are rich with them, which will last us a lifetime due to the fact that our colonies of Side 3 are self-sustaining, not to mention that the Asteroid Belt is rich with minerals."

Mineva smiled and nodded in gratitude, "Now then, I believe we have tarried long enough, Captain Zinnerman, signal all the colonies and the fleet to move out, it will take us at least over 3-4 months to get there.

Suberoa nodded and signalled everyone to move out, Banagher placed an arm around Mineva's waist, "So it begins, a new chapter of our lives." He informs her.

"Indeed, and a bright future ahead of us as well."

* * *

**-3 and a half months later-**

The colonies of Side 3 made it to Jupiter's Sphere without problems, Marida was putting on her suit as she was heading out to scout Pandora, her Kshatriya got some few upgrades as it now carried a beam rifle like that of the Sinanju's, along with improved beam cannons for its funnels.

As Marida gets in her machine's cockpit, the Kshatriya is moved to a launching pad to the back of the ship. Coming with her is Gilboa Sant, whom she met 8 years ago in this very sector when her father found her. He was operating a Geara Zulu mobile suit, the successor to the Geara Doga, Gilboa's mobile suit is armed with an improved Lange Bruno Gun that can fire beam rounds instead of slugs.

Gilboa was in the cockpit prepping for launch when speaks up, "So, Marida. 8 years since you last saw this place huh?"

Marida puts on her helmet, "Yeah, 8 years."

"You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine, the past is nothing but the past, nothing we can do to change it."

Gilboa sighed, "My thoughts exactly, but hey you turned out pretty good thanks to the Captain."

Marida smiled, "Yeah." She then activated the Minovsky Reactor of her mobile suit, bringing it to life. "This is Marida Cruz, Kshatriya, launching!"

"Gilboa Sant, Geara Zulu, I'm taking off."

The two mobile suits launch from the Garencieres and enter the moon's atmosphere. Marida in her cockpit was contacted by Mineva, "Marida, this is Mineva, I know you have had a hard past with the village of Konoha but it is the only village we are most familiar with, you and Gilboa will touch down right in front of the gate, presenting yourselves and hopefully meet with the village leader."

Marida acknowledged as a soldier does, unfazed by it, "Roger that, setting a course for Konoha."

* * *

Mineva sat on a chair beside the Captain and sighed, "I really hope this turns out well. Given her past with these people, I really hope her past doesn't catch up to her."

Suberoa chuckled, "She's a soldier your Highness, and a damned good one, besides Gilboa is with her and she can take care of herself."

Bangher who was with them asked Suberoa, "She never really had much of a childhood did she?"

The captain shook his head, "No, no she didn't, I can't reveal what happened to her as it Marida's secret to tell."

* * *

**-Konoha-**

Tsunade and Kushina were in the Hokage tower, it has been 8 years now since Naruko has disappeared, the terrorist group comprised of criminal shinobi had been dealt with as their plans were ruined with the disappearance of the Nine-Tailed fox, with the help of the Hachibi container from Kumogakure, Akatsuki had been defeated.

Kushina sat there thinking about her daughter, _'She would be eighteen by now. Oh Naruko, my little Naruko where are you?'_ she then heard a thundering noise from the sky.

Tsunade who heard it as well rushed to the window and looked up, her eyes widen, not believing what she was seeing, "Kushina you might want to see this!"

Kushina walked towards and looked up, her eyes widen as well, in the sky were two giants falling from the sky heading towards the village. "Tsunade alert the village! We might be under attack!"

* * *

Gilboa in his cockpit spotted people gathering at the village gate, "Hey Marida, looks like we have a welcoming party." He magnified the images to get a better look, he widens his eyes as he saw a woman, _'What the hell? She looks like Marida!'_

As the Kshatriya and the Geara Zulu touch down, several shinobi ready themselves, they were surprised though when they notice the giants' chests open, revealing a person coming out of each of them.

Marida and Gilboa lower themselves from their mobile suits, and approach the people. Approaching them was a red haired woman who looked exactly like Marida but with bright purple eyes, and a blonde woman with a bust size that defied the laws of physics.

Marida noticed the woman that looked like her. She then became cautious, during the 10 years that she lived here, the Kyuubi at least taught her the ways of a shinobi, and she trained everyday even after she left Konoha with her new father. Along with her Newtype abilities, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Tsunade approached the two mysterious people, "Greetings and welcome to Konoha of the Land of Fire, I am Tsunade the fifth Hokage of this village, with me is Kushina Uzumaki and my adoptive daughter."

Marida narrows her eyes, _'An Uzumaki? Why haven't I seen her before? Could she be?'_

Gilboa nodded and removed his helmet, "Lieutenant Gilboa Sant of the Principality of Zeon Armed Forces, 10th mobile suit corps."

Marida inwardly sighed, _'Now or never.'_ She removed her helmet, revealing her light red hair and purplish blue eyes, widening the eyes of Tsunade and Kushina in shock.

Kushina and Tsunade were trembling, _'It can't be, it can't be!' _they both thought. They then hear her speak, she had the same voice as Kushina's, confirming their suspicions.

"Lieutenant Marida Cruz of the Principality of Zeon Armed Forces, 10th mobile suit corps." Marida spoke with seriousness.

Kushina found the strength to speak, bravely holding back her tears, "Excuse me, could you have possibly have heard of the name Naruko Uzumaki?"

Gibloa widened his eyes, _'With that kind of tone in her voice. Could she be Marida's mother?'_

Marida was unfazed but decided to tell her the truth, "Yes, I once went by that name, before I discarded it as it brought me nothing but pain and suffering, I then adopted the name Marida Cruz, a loyal and proud soldier of Zeon."

Kushina started tearing up and hugged her, much to the surprise of Marida and Gilboa, "My baby girl! My daughter I found you!"

The two pilots were shocked; here hugging Marida was her long lost mother.

**NA: Could it be a tearful reunion? What happens next? Tune in next time on Gundam Unicorn: Marida! Please review and SIEG ZEON!**


	5. Feelings

**NA: There isn't really much to say, Gundam is awesome. The rookies of Konoha like my other fanfic will still be aged 12 in this story, meaning Naruko/Marida is older.**

Marida stood there with widened eyes, with the woman still hugging her. This woman was her long lost mother.

Gilboa got out if his shock, "_Garencieres, _this is Gilboa, you are clear to enter the atmosphere, I repeat you are clear to enter the atmosphere."

Tsunade raised her eyebrows, _'Enter the atmoshphere? It's as if he's saying they're from…'_ she looked up; there she spotted a large triangular like ship colored in green called the _Garencieres_ entering their world's atmosphere. Tsunade just stared in shock, _'I can't believe it, they're not from our world?' _

Kushina did not even bother, all she cared about was that her daughter is alive and well. _'Oh Kami! Thank you, thank you for bringing my baby back!'_

As the large ship touches down, a door to the side opened, lowering a ramp. Several people came out of the ship, several of them armed; two Geara Zulu mobile suits as well came out of the ship acting as guards.

Tsunade grimaced, _'Kami there's more of those giants?'_ she noticed the people approaching them from the ship, in the middle was a young beautiful woman with orange hair wearing ornate outfit with a red cape, with her was young man around her age with brown hair and a large man tan man, he had black hair and a black beard. The rest of the men were armed some sort of armed escorts wearing ornate outfits as well, wearing helmets.

Marida spotted the Zeon Sovereign approaching along with her father and armed escorts, she then broke the hug, "Please you must compose yourself." She then turned to Tsunade, "May I present to you, her royal Highness, the Sovereign of the Principality of Zeon, Mineva Lao Zabi."

Tsunade and the people behind her stared at the young woman, she was a few years younger than Marida, the Hokage then composed herself, and gave the Sovereign a small bow, "Welcome to Konoha of the Land of Fire your highness. I am Tsunade Senju, the Hokage of this Village."

Mineva smiled and bowed as well, aware of what a Hokage is thanks to Marida, "Thank you Lady Hokage, we just came here to present ourselves to our new neighbours, as it is customary for us to do."

Tsunade nodded and smiled, "Of course your highness that is most gracious of you. Please, if you wish we can continue our talk inside the Hokage tower."

Mineva smiled, "You are too kind Lady Tsunade. We will be more than happy to join you." she then gestured to the two other men with her, "I almost forgot, this is Banagher Links one of our soldiers, and Suberoa Zinnerman, the captain of the _Garencieres._"

Both men bowed and greeted the Hokage. They continue following Tsunade while the villagers looked at the strangely clothed people with curiosity.

Marida with Kushina still beside her, eyed the people with caution, she still hasn't forgotten what they've done to her. Kushina noticed her cautios behaviour, she looked into her daughter's eyes, and she can tell that she has killed already, more than once.

She wondered who helped her through when she made her first kill? Who got her out of the village? All these questions were roaming around her head, it was all too much.

Marida noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you arlight?"

Kushina's breathing relaxed, "I am now thank you, It's just all too much, this is the first time I'm finally meeting you, the day you disappeared was the day I awoke from my coma, I fell into a coma the day you were born."

Marida was taken aback at this, but was relieved to know she wasn't abandoned the day she was born. "I am assuming more will be revealed once we head to the Hokage tower?"

Kushina nodded, she wanted to tell her now, but in a more private area would be more suitable. As they follow Tsunade into the large building in the center of the Village, Mineva couldn't help but marvel at the building's architecture, it quite oriental, a combination of both Japanese and Chinese design, she heard stories of a failed colonization plan centuries ago for Jupiter before the start of the Universal Century. These people must have been their descendants, Marida also informed her of their unique abilities due to a unique kind of radiation emitting from the moon itself, some of them seem to inheritable as well by means of procreation.

* * *

They enter the office, leaving some guards outside the door. Tsunade sat on her chair, gesturing her guests to take a seat as well. Mineva and company nodded in gratitude and took their seats.

"Let me say once again, welcome to Konoha your Highness, it is quite a surprise for me and the village to know that there is life beyond the stars. Beside me here is my assistant Shizune, she is also a qualified doctor of the village." Tsunade said with a smile.

Mineva smiled back and greeted the young woman standing beside Tsunade, "Yes we were surprised that there was life here on Pandora."

"Pandora, your highness?" Tsunade showed a face of confusion. Shizune and Kushina were wondering as well.

"Why yes, this isn't technically a planet, it's a moon we have designated Pandora, along with its sister moons orbiting the gas planet Jupiter, which you can probably see every night.

Tsunade was surprised at this, this world is actually a moon, they thought the large body in the sky every night was a very large moon. Shizune was taken aback by this, "Wow, your highness that's a lot to take in."

Mineva nodded, "Of course, please don't let this affect you or your people, you are free to with this information as you wish, sometimes ignorance is a necessity to keep civilization standing."

Tsunade was surprised at her wisdom, "Lady Mineva, if I may ask, how old are you?"

"Of course, I am 16 years old lady Tsunade." Mineva answered straightly.

Tsunade, Shizune and Kushina widened their eyes in surprise and shock, a 16 year old girl had such wisdom in politics. Tsunade made a comment, "I can tell you have been brought up quite well your highness."

"Thank you lady Tsunade." Mineva replied, "I believe though you wish to talk about Lieutenant Marida? That is why you have brought us here?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, eight years she disappeared without a trace on her birthday October 10. Although she went by another name, Naruko Uzumaki, daughter of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze."

Marida was shocked, the Fourth Hokage the man who sealed the Kyuubi into her was her father. "Are you telling me that the man who sealed the Kyuubi inside me is my very own father?"

Suberoa widened his eyes as he turned to his daughter, how could a man condemn his own child to a life of suffering?

Mineva's face hardened, no parent should damn their child like that. Gilboa winced, a father committed a great sin by condemning his own child to a life of pain, and he was a father of three.

Tears started falling down Kushina's face, she was too weak to stop it on that horrid night. Marida approached her placing a hand on her shoulder, Kushina looked at her daughter, she embraced her and cried on her shoulder.

Mineva sighed, "It's not your fault. It never was."

Kushina cried even harder, here was her daughter saying that it wasn't her fault. In her mind though, she blamed herself for being too weak to stop it the day she was born.

Tsunade caught the attention once more, "We were still investigating how she got off world."

Suberoa stood, "That would be me, my name is Suberoa Zinnerman, Captain of the _Garencieres_, a soldier of the Principality of Zeon, and Marida's adoptive father."

Tsunade, Shizune and Kushina had their eyes spread like dinner plates; here was the man that took her away from Konoha. Kushina wanted to say something but knew that Marida would come to defend him.

"I took her from this place when I found her beaten and bruised with multiple lacerations on her body. Thankfully the beast inside her healed her wounds, although some scars stayed. I gave her a new life among the stars and a family among the crew of my ship. She grew up in a healthy environment, and became an excellent soldier." Suberoa explained.

Marida smiled at her father, "And for that I am grateful father." She then turned to Tsunade, "The day I left was the day the Kyuubi left the seal thanks to a scroll I stole from the Hokage's vault, for the 10 years of my life in this village the fox was the only friend I had. He taught me how to be a shinobi so I could at least defend myself. I knew I did not have a future here if I stayed longer, I was lucky that my adoptive father found me, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have lived such a successful life."

Tsunade sighed, she wanted to scream at the man, but what Marida told her was true.

Kushina was surprised at this, "You befriended the Kyuubi and he taught you how to be a shinobi?"

Marida nodded, "I'm sure you know this already, the day the Kyuubi attacked when a masked man with the Sharingan extracted the Kyuubi from you and controlled him. He told me that when a female container gives birth the seal is weakened."

Kushina nodded as well, "Yes, I remember that night all too well, your father wanted you to be viewed as a hero, believing that by telling the village that the Kyuubi was sealed inside you, everyone would view you as a hero."

Mineva then finished it, "Except that didn't go as planned."

Tsunade nodded grimly, "No, honestly I didn't know what Minato was thinking before he died. It should have stayed a secret so Naruko could live a normal life."

Marida looked at Tsunade straight in the eye, "My name is Marida Cruz, I refuse to be called by that name."

Tsunade interjected, "But that's the name you were given the day you were bor-"

Marida raised a hand signalling her to stop, "I know it was my given name, but that name has given me nothing but pain and suffering, nothing good ever came out of it, that's why I changed my name to Marida Cruz."

Tsunade slumped into her chair in defeat, it was damn good reason to abandon her birth name. Kushina smiled in understanding, she could practically feel her pain. "It's okay Marida, no matter what name you choose, you will always be my daughter."

Marida smiled an even bigger smile, "Thank you…. Mom."

Kushina trembled, she finally called her the one thing she has been wanting to hear for 18 years, Mom. She couldn't control herself and broke down crying, Marida captured her in a tight hug, a lone tear falling down her face.

Mineva smiled at the scene, they both finally have the closure they have been wanting for so long. Suberoa sniffed a bit and wiped a tear in his eye, the scene reminded him too much of his late wife and daughter.

Gilboa looked at his captain, "Sir are you crying?"

Suberoa interjected, "No I'm not! Just got something in my eye."

Marida laughed at her father. Suberoa and Gilboa were surprised at her behaviour, this was the first time they have seen her laugh in years, and somehow... it gave off a good feeling.

**NA: Ah the feels! I almost cried writing the ending of this chapter. We will be proceeding to the Chunin Exams in the next chapter, and because the Akatsuki have already been dealt with beforehand, we will be going to an original story after this. See you guys on the next chapter!**

**Character ages:**

**Marida: 18**

**Banagher: 16**

**Mineva: 16**

**Suberoa: 52**

**Gilboa: 30**

**Tsunade: 50+ (Looks like she's still in her 20s)**

**Kushina: 42 (Physically 24 due to chakra induced coma)**

**Konoha rookies: 12**

** Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	6. Home

**NA: I love writing this fic, it's so much fun making my favorite Gundam Character a main character. I will tell you this again! Gundam anime is superior, and it has been for over 35 years!**

**March 10, U.C. 0097**

**09:00 PM**

**Konoha**

**Jupiter's moon Pandora**

Everyone was outside the village gate where the mobile suits were sitting idle along with the _Garencieres. _Kushina decided to move to the colonies where her daughter lives, there was nothing left for her in Konoha.

Mineva gave her thanks to the Hokage, "Thank you once again Lady Tsunade, we will return in a few months for these Chunin Exams, I understand it functions like a tournament?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, they function like a tournament, a martial arts tournament to be exact, with some additions to it."

They bid their goodbyes to each other, Kushina chose to ride in the Kshatriya with her daughter as she still wanted to be with Marida, no one objected to that of course, she was given a space suit to wear, it was weird at first, it was her first time wearing something so strange and bulky, not to mention she is the first human from Pandora to go to space.

She sat one of the mobile suit's retractable passenger seats and buckled up, watching her daughter pressing all these buttons and controls, hearing the machine roar to life, "This all seem so complex."

Marida smirked, "At first yes, the first time I flew one along with father was weird, it took me a month to master flying a mobile suit, after that it gets easier. I've been piloting for more than 8 years now." She then turned on the Kshatriya's commlink, "Gilboa, you head on out first. I'll stay and escort the _Garencieres_."

"Copy that, Gilboa Sant in the Geara Zulu, taking off!" because the moon's atmosphere was different from Earth's, there was no need for catapult to launch you to space.

Kushina watched in awe as the metal giant flies off into the stars. Their technology is truly amazing. She then watches the large green triangular ship take off, rumbling the trees nearby. She hears her daughter speak, "Marida Cruz, Kshatriya, launch!" the Kshatriya takes off as well, Kushina couldn't believe it, they were flying.

As the _Garancieres_ and the Kshatriya leave Pandora's unique atmosphere, the older red head couldn't help herself but look at the stars, and how smaller her former home was becoming. She noticed other ships arriving on the other moons that looked like Pandora. Other ships were colonizing the other habitable moons.

Marida then got her attention and pointed at the colonies,"Mom look, see those cylindrical objects? Those are colonies, they each have their own artificial sun, atmoshphere, and weather, that is where we and other people live."

Kushina stared at the large spinning cylinders, inside them are cities, and people living in them. It was just simply amazing, it even amazed her to no end that a 16 year old girl was their sovereign.

"So mom, what do you think?" Marida asked her mother.

Kushina opened her mouth, and closed it, repeating it a couple of times. There was no words to describe how amazing and overwhelming it is to her. Pandora was truly a small world, now that she knows there was life among the stars. "I.. uh…. Wow."

Marida laughed, it was strange, it was extremely rare to make her laugh, "It is isn't it?" as they travel alongside the _Garencieres_ heading for Side 3, they started to talk, "We decided to move here to the Jupiter Sphere away from Earth a month after the war."

Kushian turned to her daughter, "You fought in a war?"

Marida nodded, "Two actually, the Second Neo Zeon war and the Third one, AKA the Laplace Conflict. Both fought by the Earth Federation and Zeon."

Kushina stared at her daughter, she couldn't believe her own daughter was a veteran of not one, but two wars. Marida sighed, "I fought in an older machine in the Second Neo Zeon war, called the Qubeley, it's similar to my Kshatriya, as it uses funnels as well which are remote controlled flying cannons that float around the machine. The war was a bloody one, even if it was a short war, we were being led by Char Aznable, also known as the Legendary Red Comet, known for piloting crimson red Mobile Suits. What ended the war was massive Psyco wave that hit the entire battlefield, causing Char and his rival Amuro Ray to mysteriously disappear, after we never saw them again. No one knows if they are alive or not."

Kushina nodded and allowed her daughter to continue, "Then came the Laplace conflict three years later, we were being led by a man by the name Full Frontal who became known as 'The Second Coming of Char.' we were then informed by the massive mobile suit production company called the Vist Foundation that their CEO and head of the Vist family, Cardeas Vist was giving us an object called Laplace's Box."

Kushina tilted her head in confusion, "Laplace's Box? What is that?"

Marida continued, "The box was said to have the power to destroy the Earth Federation's government, as it was not a box, but a government founding document thought to be lost."

Kushina stiffened at the mention of such a document, government documents with that kind of power to topple a government. She was aware of how dirty politics can be.

"Mineva who was still a princess at the time along with Banagher who was a pilot, found the box, what shocked us all the most was that it contained the original Federation's charter, but there was an article added to it. You see in the Earth Federation, only Earth-born citizens are allowed to participate in the government administration. The last article in Laplace's Box shattered that rule because it contained:

_In the future, should the emergence of a new space-adapted human race be confirmed, the Earth Federation shall give priority to involving them in the administration of the government._

That last article nearly shattered the Federation as it granted more freedom for those who lived in space, funny though, that such words could shatter a government."

Kushina nodded, hearing all this frightened her a bit, the world outside Pandora was truly an amazing and frightening place, and now she is a part of it.

Marida continued, "After that, even though the Federation still stood and big changes were being made, we wanted to leave, and so here we are, in Jupiter's Sphere."

Kushina sat there, amazed that her daughter went through such an adventure, she wished she was there with her to witness it all.

"I then became a Newtype, one of those space adapted people; we are the next stage in human evolution, giving us heightened sense, increased spatial awareness, reflexes, and near-psychic abilities."

Kushina's eyes widened in shock, her daughter is one of those Newtypes, with characteristics similar to that of a Yamanaka back in Konoha, who had the abilities to enter people's minds.

As they near Side 3's main colony Deikun City, Kushina was amazed at how large it was, it was huge, not as big as the moon but still big. Marida maneuvered the Kshatriya back into the _Garencieres' _hangar. Kushina felt a large thud as the mobile suit was locked into position by the docking clamps.

The Kshatriya's cockpit opens up, "Grab my hand, we are in zero-gravity so we won't be able to walk."

Kushina nodded dumbly and made an 'eep' sound as they left the mobile suit and floated out into the ship, she couldn't believe it, she was flying again! Marida chuckled, it couldn't be helped, this is her mother's first time in space after all. She then held her hand tightly and headed for the bridge.

As they reach the bridge Mineva stood there waiting for their arrival, "Ah Lady Kushina, I can tell your trip was quite an experience."

Kushina could only nod, "This is all so overwhelming, I can't believe my daughter lived here for 8 years."

Suberoa, the ship's captain laughed, "Meh, you get used to it, Marida has been a crewmember of this ship for 8 years, and she loved it."

Kushina smiled at the captain, "Thank you, thank you for taking care of her, thank you so much."

"You are most welcome, since you are her mother that makes you a member of this ship's family." Suberoa smiled, Marida was practically the little sister of everyone in this ship ever since she came here 8 years ago.

The ship's helmsman Flast Schole announced over the communication channel, "This is the _Garencieres_ contacting Deikun city control, we are carrying her Sovereign Mineva Lao Zabi, permission to dock."

The docking control replied, "Roger that, proceed to hangar 1, welcome back your highness."

"Copy that, Initiating docking procedures."

The _Garencieres_ lines up with the guiding lights leading to hangar 1, the hangar was filled with several warships, meaning it's a military sector of the colony. The ship lock on to the docking clamps as the colony's artificial gravity kicks in and everyone leaves the ship, Kushina follows her daughter out and spots a guard regiment waiting for them, she guessed they were an honor guard for Mineva.

An officer approaches them and greets Mineva, "Your highness, I hope your trip was a good one."

Mineva nodded, "Of course captain, we just went to meet with the people who live in the Jupiter Sphere before us, and we have a lot of work to do gentlemen, so let's get to it."

The guard captain nodded and proceeded to lead them out. Marida grabbed her mother's hand and said three very familiar words, "Welcome home… mom."

**NA: Yay! Kushina joined the Principality of Zeon! A lot of events will be happening soon, first off will be the Chunin Exams, it is one of my favorite arcs as you can play around with the arc when writing it, a lot can happen in that certain story arc.**

**OMAKE:**

Kushina and Marida visited Mineva for some girl talk, they all sat down on the Zeon Sovereign's bed laughing at some of the things they talked about.

The older of the two red heads grinned at the orange haired sovereign, "So Mineva, I heard that you and Banagher are together."

The sovereign blushed, "W-well, after what we've been through during the Laplace conflict, we just sort of uh… clicked as you say it?"

Kushina chuckled, "Yep that's the word! So… have you two done it yet?"

Marida gasped, "Mother you shouldn't ask things like that to people, it's inappropriate!"

"Oh pooh, you need to lighten up Marida, you won't stay young forever ya know!" Kushian replied, "So Mineva, have you and Bangher sealed the deal yet?"

"I uh…. Uhm, uh I." Mineva tried to find the words but couldn't as she was completely flustered.

"Oh my goodness you two did do it! Oh my goodness!" Kushina squeeled.

Marida gasped at her sovereign, "Your Higness! You two aren't even married yet! And you mother, stop it, you are acting immature for your age!"

Kushina glared at her daughter, "I am not old!"

Mineva just sat there with a reddened face mumbling, "Well it just felt right."

Kushina then turned to her daughter, "How about you Marida, any special guy you are interested in?"

The younger red head scoffed, glaring at the older red head, "How can I be interested in guys when I spent the last two wars killing them!?"

**NA: Oh god I had a laugh writing this Omake. Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	7. Father's Daughter

**NA: Time for the Wave Arc! One of my favorite arcs in Naruto, let's see how the people of wave and others react to seeing a mobile suit for the first time.**

**U.C. 0097**

**1 month after recocation to Jupiter.**

**_Garencieres_**

**Pandora Orbit**

Marida was in the cockpit of her mobile suit, the NZ-666 Kshatriya, preparing for launch.

"Are you sure you sure about this Marida?"

"I'm sure mom, besides I'm over it already, I've always wanted to see the land outside of Konoha, I never really got the chance to see it. It's only wave country I'm going to anyway." The young red head replied.

Kushina smiled over the video comm, "Just be careful out there okay? Do you have your sword with you at least?"

Marida sighed, "Yes I do, and thanks for teaching me how to use one, it actually helped with using a beam saber as well surprisingly." Her mother had taught her how to use a sword over the month when she moved in with her to Side 3. Learning how to use a sword helped the young red headed Newtype, as it helped her when using a beam saber in her mobile suit. "Look mother I have to go, I'll be launching soon."

"Okay, have fun out there, love you."

**(Play – The Timpan Reel by The Chieftains)**

Marida laughed, "Love you too mom, I'll see you later." With that she shut off the video comm. She did some last minute checks on her cockpit, the Kshatriya's single eye lights up. "Marida Cruz, Kshatriya, Launch!"

The large quad-winged mobile suit releases itself from the _Garencieres'_ tether and entered Pandora's unique atmosphere, there was no burn in when entering the atmosphere so there was no need for re-entry equipment.

**(End song)**

The mobile suit slowly falls into the moon thanks to its thrusters, Marida set the controls to auto-pilot as she enters the moon's atmoshphere, as she marvels the view she zooms in onto the ground, and spots 5 people, Marida narrows her eyes, _'Kakashi Hatake, who would have thought we would meet like this?'_

She disengages the auto-pilot and sets the machine to fly steady, observing the Silver haired Shinobi and his squad escorting an elderly man, "This would be classified as a C-Rank Mission if I remember, Hatake seems to be inured in some way, must have been a battle earlier."

She continued to observe them as the elderly man led them to his home, she noticed the condition of the village it was in, malnutrition and suffering evident among the populace. Marida frowned, what tyrant could possible do something like this to the people? It was Gihren Zabi all over again in this village, she knew she had nothing to do with these people, but what good would doing nothing bring?

She touches the mobile suit down a hundred metres from the man's home, the occupants come out to see what was going and their eyes widen. In front of them is green quad-winged metal giant with a single red eye.

They watch as the metal giant's chest begins to move, opening like a door, noticing a feminine looking person coming out of the giant.

One of the shinobi with Kakashi, who wore white shorts, a blue shirt, he had black eyes and black hair, _'That was the same machine that came to the village a month ago!'_

The pink haired kunoichi quivered in fear, she thought she was going to die when she first saw the giants over a month ago when they came to the village.

Another shinobi who had brown spiky hair with a puppy on his head, and what seemed to be red triangular tattoos on his cheeks, looked at the woman with fear, he can tell the bloody of many have been stained by her hands alone.

Marida lowered herself as she exits the mobile suit, she approached with a katana sheathed to her left to the people as she removed her helmet, revealing her red hair as it flows, down, and her bluish purple eyes. She walks up to the woman who, "Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz of the Principality of Zeon's Mobile Suit Special Forces, I have come here under orders to assist your village." It wasn't a lie, she was given orders to head to wave country to assist the people.

Marida then turned to the young shinobi, "Konoha shinobi, is your commander inside?"

The pink haired one nodded, still afraid of the woman in front of her, "Y-yes, he was extremely exhausted from a battle not too long ago."

Marida nodded and turned back to the woman, she had dark long hair, "I presume you live here ma'am?"

She nodded dumbly, "Y-yes, my name is Tsunami, I along with my son and my father live here, did I here you correctly? You are here to help us?"

The red head nodded once more, Tsunami smiled with tears welling in her eyes, she quickly embraced Marida with a small sob, "Oh thank you! Thank you so much! Oh please, please come inside!"

Marida followed her inside, the black haired boy was staring at the mobile suit with envy, _'If I can get that kind of power, I can finally kill him!'_

Marida walked into the house, it was simple, she can see it had two floors, a living room, a small dining room and a kitchen in the first floor. "Thank you for having me miss Tsunami."

"Oh no please! It's the least I can do! And please just Tsunami is fine"

"No need to be so modest Tsunami, Zeon can tell that your people were in need, so they sent me to help."

Tsunami nodded and gestured to the elderly man, "This is my father Tazuna, he is building a bridge that will help us increase our prosperity and break the bindings the man Gato has on us, you see he owns the trading port in this country, and with that he used it as leverage to extort us and the people."

Marida frowned, "That isn't right, nevertheless I am here to help, and I am assuming this Gato has hire men to do his dirty work?"

Tazuna nods, "Yes, he has over a hundred men at his disposable, many of them criminals, so they have no problems when it comes to harming civilians like us."

"Then he will be no problem, I can quickly dispatch even without my machine."

"That's impossible! Gato is a powerful man, his men will kill you!" A boy no older than 8 walks in, "You don't even know what it's like for us to suffer, besides you are just one person against an army!"

Marida glared at the boy that made him cringe, "I fought two wars boy, two bloody wars, I have seen thousands of men and women die in front of me, and I killed them. I watched as my comrades were burnt to ashes by fire, I watched as cities burned to the ground. I know what it is like to suffer _little boy._" She said those last two words with such venom it made the boy tear up and run back up to his room.

Tsunami looked at red haired girl, she looked so young and yet she has fought in two wars already and lived. "I'm sorry, that was my son Inari, ever since his father died by the hands of Gato, he has pretty much lost hope."

The three shinobi with them looked at Marida, the black haired one especially, he looked at her with jealousy, she has fought two wars and lived, she has killed already, she killed so many with that machine, it was clear, he needs that machine.

The dog boy and pink haired girl nearly wet themselves; here was a woman, a strong woman who is not afraid to do what is necessary. Here was a woman who has the blood of thousands in stained in her hands alone.

A silver haired man about the age of 24-25 with a headband covering his right eye walks in, he heard everything, his left widened in shock and horror as the little girl he once knew became a killer. "Naruko, it is you isn't it?"

Marida was unfazed by the name, "I am no longer Naruko Uzumaki, I am no longer that poor defenseless, weak little girl you once knew. I am Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz of the Principality of Zeon's Mobile Suit Special Forces, also known as The Sleeves. My father and Commanding officer, Commander Suberoa Zinnerman, Captain of the _Garencieres_, and along with its crew my family who loved me very much. Is there anything you would like to say to me Kakashi Hatake? Or is it Inu, the ANBU bodyguard who was supposed to safeguard me during my childhood?"

Kakashi stared in shock at her, she knew who he was during his ANBU days. "Naruko, please you are a citizen of Konoha! If you can just come back after all of this is over! I'm sure the people will accept you this time!"

"No."

"What?"

"I said no, my mother lives with me in Zeon now, and besides, why should I come back? Why should I come to a place that has brought me nothing but pain and suffering? Where a senile old man kept too many secrets from me? Claiming it was for my own safety when I was never safe to begin with from the people of the village, who would try to take my life, almost every day." Marida looked at the silver haired man with an emotionless face.

"No, I am not a citizen of Konoha, nor is that village my home. I am a Soldier of Zeon, sworn to protect it and its Sovereign Mineva Lao Zabi. Say what you want Hatake, you will never convince me, once all of this is over, I am going back to report to my superiors." Marida then stood up and turned to the older woman, "Miss Tsunami, I will return to my mobile suit, I will sleep there, I have done it once before."

Tsunami just nods, she couldn't find any words to say, this woman has suffered so much, and yet she still found her sanity.

Kakashi fell to his knees, a tear falling from his left eye, _'Minato-sensei, Naruko, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I failed you both!'_

Marida sat in her cockpit thinking, _'Strangely enough, I am not even bothered by it anymore, perhaps I really did let go.' _She then smiled, _'It's all thanks to father, Gilboa, the crew, and mom. It's thanks to them I moved on. I have a happy life now, and nothing is taking that away from me.'_

She then turned on the mobile suits monitor, and looked at a map, she noticed an unfinished bridge at the end of the village, "That must be the bridge Tazuna is building." She then heard tapping from outside, she went out and looked down, noticing children three children no older than 7-8 years old, three girls, triplets to be exact touching the Kshatriya's feet. She quickly went down to take a look, as Marida approached the children she noticed the fear in the children's eyes, thinking that she was going to hurt them.

Marida smiled and kneeled down, taking out some chocolate, "Go on, take it. It won't hurt you."

The three girls took the chocolate and began nibbling on the delectable treats. Marida noticed how malnourished they were and then remembered something, it was like when her adoptive father found her 8 years ago.

"Where are your parents?" Marida asked the girls.

"The bad man killed them." One of the triplets answered, the girls all had brown hair and bright yellow eyes. They were wearing raggedy clothes and nothing on their feet.

The red head sighed, here were three innocent little girls orphaned by that tyrant Gato,"I'm Marida, Marida Cruz, what are yours?"

"I'm Mika."

"I'm Rika."

"And I'm Nika. We're all 7 years old"

Marida gave them a warm smile, it really was like 8 years ago, "Would you three like to come with me when all of this is over? I can give you three a new home and a family. I can be your older sister if you like."

The triplets brightened and quickly tackled the older red head, making her laugh as they mutter loudly their thank yous.

"Alright, you three stay here with me okay?"

The triplets nod. Marida looked at the sky smiling, she truly is her father's daughter.

**NA: Well this was a nice Déjà vu. Marida just took in little triplet girls, pretty much doing the same thing Suberoa did when she found her 8 years ago. NA by the way means "Note of Author". Why you ask? Because it sounds cooler. I sort of made Kakashi pretty much the same age as Iruka, coz why not? I think it would be funny seeing him and Iruka fight for Marida's affection, tee hee.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	8. Nightingale

**NA: The Chunin Exam arc will happen during a huge event, so I won't be writing it as I have something big planned for this story, I have adopted BloodRavenFan's fanfic Clash of Civilizations, meaning Gundam Seed will be added to the Crossover, besides, who doesn't want to see Marida kick some Cosmic Era ass?**

It all came down to the battle of the bridge. Zabuza Momochi, A-Class criminal wanted by Kirigakure for attempted murder of their Mizukage. And now hired to do Gato's dirty work.

The battle between him and Kakashi was fierce by shinobi standards, the Kshatriya was hidden in the water at the bridge, waiting for Gato to show himself, Marida had suspicions that Gato was going to betray Zabuza as it would be too expensive to pay him. She was right.

"Well well well, Zabuza I am disappointed in you, you and your little minion can't even handle one guy and three brats." The little fat man said, who was identified as Gato accompanied by a hundred armed men.

Zabuza snarled, "Damn you Gato! You weren't planning on paying me were you!?"

"No, you are too expensive." Gato laughed.

Zabuza turned to Kakashi, "It seems we are no longer enemies as my contract has been terminated, would you care to lend me your kunai? I am going to gut them all."

Kakashi was about to give him a kunai when they felt a rumble coming from the water, everyone's eyes widen as they spot a quad-winged green giant with a single red eye rise from the water.

Gato gaped, "W-what the hell is that!?"

The green giant turned its head to Gato, everyone heard it speak, "Gato, for the crimes of making the people of this village suffer, you are not going to live."

"Like hell you will!" Gato turned to his men, "Get that thing! Whoever takes it down will get triple their pay!"

The men at first were hesitant, but when they heard their boss give them a triple pay offer, they went rabid and charged the quad winged giant.

Marida in the Kshatriya's cockpit shook her head and sighed, "Fools." She pressed a button in her controls. The Kshatriya activated its 60mm Vulcans on its head and opened fire at the thugs charging at them. They didn't even get within a hundred metres when they were gunned down and blown to bits.

Gato froze in fear, one hundred of his men were killed in a matter of seconds. Zabuza was gaping at the raw power of the giant.

The three young shinobi who captured a feminine looking young boy stared at the giant. One of them named Sasuke was jealous of such power, it can kill a hundred men in seconds. The captured boy was scared, never had he seen such a beast with such power, he somehow thought it was a bijuu because of its four wings.

The Kshatriya still in the water from the waist down opened its chest, and out came a red haired woman with three children inside.

Zabuza widened his eyes further in fear, "K-Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Death!?"

Marida shook her head, "That would be my mother you are talking about."

"She had a daughter!?"

The red head nodded. She spotted villagers coming their way towards the bridge, two of them she recognized as Tsunami and her son Inari. The boy walked up to her, "Is it over?"

Marida nodded, she then gestured to short fat man who was wetting his pants, "There he is, defenseless and powerless. Villagers of Wave! There is the man who has tormented you for years, you are free to do to him as you please."

At that the villagers charged at the man in rage, with pitchforks and farming tools, Gato ran for his life, he ran until he was caught and surrounded by the villagers. The dragged him to the center of the village and hung him by his feet, with the villagers taking turns hitting him with whatever they can get their hands on.

Marida then turned away, not wanting the triplets to see what they were doing to him. She buckled the children tight on the passenger chairs, as they will be leaving soon. They had a blast, the got to be underwater inside a giant machine.

Kakashi then walked up to her, "So you won't be going back with us?"

Marida shook her head, "I have to report back, I'm a soldier of Zeon after all."

The silver haired Jonin nodded, disappointed that she isn't a shinobi of Konoha, the civilian council of Koonoha would be envious of such loyalty she gives to Zeon.

Tazuna and his family approached Marida, "If you ever plan of coming back here to visit, you will be most welcome here. You have done us a great thing."

"Think nothing of it Tazuna, I was only doing my job, besides her royal Highness would not tolerate such tyranny. She would have just sent someone else if I did not come. Do not thank me, I only did what was right." After that she sat back down in her cockpit, closing the hatch. The Kshatriya's wings spread reavealing it's thrusters. "Alright you three, hold on tight. We're going to fly now."

The triplets' jaws opened, they were going to fly. The green quad-winged giant then activated it's thrusters, flying out into the sky. The people of the village stared in awe and wonder as they watch the green giant fly off into the sky.

Sasuke was seething, he never got a chance to try and take the giant for himself. He would have to do something if we was going gain power.

The triplets with Marida had their faces stuck on the cockpit's 360 degree screen, looking at the stars and what used to be their home. Rika was couldn't stop talking, "Wow our world is a ball! And there's more worlds!"

Marida chuckled, "Yes Rika, the worlds are balls." She then pointed at the _Garencieres_, "See that? That's a space ship, and were going in there."

"Wow!" the triplets said, looking at the big green triangular ship.

Over the month after they relocated to the Jupiter Sphere, the _Garencieres_ got retrofitted, it's mobile suit storage was expanded as there was no need to use mobile suits as makeshift turrets, it was equipped with five retractable twin-barreled mega particle cannons, three on where used to be the doors for the makeshift turrets, and two one front. Added with standard issue point defense turrets found on any warship, minovsky particle countermeasures and an I-field designed to negate beam damage. The _Garencieres_ was then classified as covert assault carrier, designed to go in deep inside enemy territory for hit and run tactics. Thanks to its retractable cannons it can still be disguised as a cargo ship. Overall the _Garencieres_ was a formidable ship. The only problem was their newest crewmember, a Cyber-Newtype, by the name of Elpeo Puru the twelfth , or Puru 12. She had the exact same personality as the original Elpeo Puru, not as energetic of course. Thanks to the added mobile suit space, it housed not just the Kshatriya and three Geara Zulu's, but added one more Geara Zulu and a mass-production Qubeley.

"_Garencieres_ this is Marida Cruz, mission complete, Wave Country has been assisted and I'm coming with three orphaned girls, prep the med-bay."

* * *

Gilboa chuckled, "Roger that, good work." He then leaned backed to his chair, "She is really like you eh? Captain Zinnerman."

Suberoa shook his head, "In more ways than you can imagine Lieutenant." She was so much like him that she even took in kids with her. Just like 8 years ago. Even if they weren't related by blood she is so much like him.

* * *

As the Kshatriya docks inside the ship, Marida turned to her new little sisters, "Alright you three, grab on to my hands, were going to floating now. The nodded, not understanding what she just told them, but as the cockpit's hatch opens they float out into the hangar.

"Woah!" the three of them said. They just opened their mouths as they realized they were flying. Marida just smiled at them as she led them to the medical bay.

They reached the med-bay in no time and had them sit on the medical bed, "So doc, anything I should know?"

The doctor shook his head, "No, besides malnutrition, there's nothing that can't be fixed. I will let the cook know and have him send food down here."

Marida nods and turns to the three, "Alright you three, you stay here and listen to the doctor, I am just going to the Captain, the doctor will be getting you food."

"Okay." The three of them say at the same time as they watch their new sister go out the door.

* * *

As Marida reaches the bridge, she gives her father/commanding officer a salute. As she was about to give a report the radar officer gets everyone's attention, "Captain there is an anomaly that just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and it's energy readings seem to be getting bigger."

Suberoa perks up, "Is it a danger?"

"Can't tell, Deikun City and the rest of Jupiter Sphere are getting the same readings."

Marida narrows her eyes, "An Axis shock, here? Ensign can you identify?"

"Possible, Captain it's going to burst! If my readings are correct it's going to engulf the entire Jupiter Sphere!"

Suberoa growls, "Dammit! Inform Side 3 and all of Jupiter Sphere to brace for an Axis Shock!"

As he says that all of Jupiter Sphere were engulfed in a blinding light for a few seconds, when the light fades, Suberoa then orders the Ensign, "Ensign! Status report!"

"All of Jupiter Sphere is accounted for, Side 3, Palau and all of the moon colonies are alright, no one missing." As the Ensign says that everyone in the bridge sighed in relief.

Marida then orders the Ensign, "Contact Deikun City, her highness is going to need to know this."

The Ensign nods and does what he was told, Mineva then shows up in a view screen with worried look. "Commander Zinnerman, what just happened? What was that light?"

"All of Jupiter Sphere was engulfed in a random Axis Shock. Thankfully all of the colonies of Side 3, Palau, and the moon colonies are accounted for, no losses."

Mineva was relieved, no one was lost in the Axis Shock. The Ensign then caught something in the radar, "Sir we got a single radar contact."

Suberoa places a hand on his chin, "Can you indentify?"

"Yeah I think…. No way." The Ensign widens his eyes.

"What is it?" Marida looked at the Ensign with concern.

"It's….. It's the Nightingale."

**NA: Dun dun duuuuuun! The Nightingale has resurfaced! What was that Axis Shock? Tune in next time on Gundam Unicorn: Marida!**

**Please review and SIEG ZEON!**


	9. Friction

**NA: And here we are, in the Cosmic Era! A lot of stuff is going to happen, I have adopted BloodRavenFan's fanfic Clash of Civilizations, I will be modifying it as Marida will take a more active part in the story.**

"Prep the Kshatriya for launch!"

"What? Marida are you sure about this?" Suberoa asked, worried for his daughter.

"I know what I'm doing, someone needs to confirm if it is really Char or another Full Frontal. I'm going out there."

Suberoa relented, "Very well, hangar prep the Kshatriya for launch."

Marida gave her father a nod in gratitude, she then immediately made her way to her mobile suit. As she gets into the cockpit her father contacts her through the commlink, "Marida, the Nightingale is vastly superior, if anything is wrong get out of there."

"Roger that, master."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

Marida laughs, "Marida Cruz, Kshatriya, launch!"

The Kshatriya then releases itself from the clamps and speeds towards the large red mobile suit, as she gets within comm range she opens a channel, "Unidentified mobile suit, this is Lieutenant Marida Cruz of the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps, identify yourself!"

For a brief tense minute, she waited, then she heard a very familiar voice, "Did you say Zeon Mobile Suit Corps?"

"Affirmative, now identify yourself or you will be fired upon."

"Commander Char Aznable of the Zeon Remnants in this universe, you're not going to believe this but you're not in the Universal Century anymore. We've kept ourselves hidden from the populace for more than three and a half years here."

Marrida widens her eyes, "What?"

"He's joking right?" Gilboa asks in the _Garencieres' _helm. "This has got to be a joke!"

"I hope so too my friend, I hope so." Suberoa slumps in his captain's chair.

Marida was still in a bit of shock and confusion, "Uh, right. Please follow me back to Deikun city, her Highness Mineva would like to speak with you."

Char was a bit surprised by that. Mineva is the sovereign? "Mineva? Mineva Lao Zabi? Last time I saw her she was only two years old."

"A lot has happened while you were gone, Zeon is free, and is in Jupiter. If what you say is true, I think the entire Jupiter Sphere along with Side 3 and its moons are transported to this universe as you say."

"Cosmic Era, here it's called the Cosmic Era in this universe."

"Right. Well then follow me, and contact your men, I believe they would like to know that Zeon is once again a free nation."

"Understood."

* * *

The Kshatriya and Nightingale sped its way to Deikun City. As they dock the people were shocked they were seeing the venerable MSN-04II Nightingale in front of them. They were then completely floored seeing Char once more, alive.

They reached Mineva's office within minutes. Mineva stood up with widened eyes, "My god, you are alive."

The Red Comet smiled, "You've grown Mineva, and look at you, Sovereign of the Principality of Zeon. Your father would have been proud."

"It is so good to see again Char, but how?"

"The Axis Shock sent me along with a handful of Neo Zeon mobile suits and their pilots along with a single Rewloola-class ship to this universe, as for the whereabouts of Amuro Ray, I do not know."

Mineva sat down slumping into her chair, "The Axis Shock, a truly confusing phenomenon. At least we didn't suffer any loses from that second one, and it happened in Jupiter. It's even strange that Jupiter has twice the number of moons now. But at least we didn't lose any people. Tell me about the people in this universe, we need to know."

Char then began to tell their story, how they survived the Axis Shock to secluding themselves in the Asteroid Belt away from Earth. He then told them of the ongoing conflict in this universe's Earth Sphere.

Mineva sighed, "Naturals… Coordinators… a war on a small scale and yet all too-similar to the One Year War."

Marida then spoke up, "So what's the plan your higness?"

"First we set up a base on Mars, we will send a few ships to meet with these two factions, Zeon will not enter this war unless we are truly provoked, by the looks of our mobile suit technology along with our weapons are far more advanced compared to theirs. Once we have met, I will go on the Gwadan and meet with their delegates myself."

Char smirked, she truly has grown into a fine young woman and leader. "Oh and one more thing Marida, good job on that last mission, you really helped the people of that small country in Pandora." Mineva added with a smile.

Char looked at the sovereign in confusion, "Pandora? Like the moon?"

Mineva nodded, "Apparently that story about a failed colonization plan centuries ago was true, the people living in Pandora are their descendants."

Marida nodded, "How do you intend to deal with both the Senate and public your higness?"

"We are a democracy. Zeon is no longer a tyranny governed by my fool of an uncle, Gihren. Therefore, we will tell both the Senate and the public the truth. They need to be informed of this situation."

Marida nodded, "Understood, I will inform the _Garencieres _of your plans, I believe the Rewloola and the Angrboda will come along as well. Will you be boarding the Gwadan after informing everyone milady."

Mineva nodded, "We have a lot of work to do people, let's get to it. Oh and Char, I believe Nanai and your daughter will be most happy to see you."

Char widened his eyes in shock, he has a daughter, and Nanai is the mother. He has been gone too long.

* * *

**-Few days later-**

**U.C. 0097/Cosmic Era 71**

Captain Andre sighed as he and his squadrion – four Drake-class Escort ships – flew a wide, eccentric, orbital patrol around the Moon. He knew he should be thankful that he hadn't encountered any ZAFT vessels in his patrol around the Moon, but still, as a soldier he found the lack of action somewhat galling.

"I wish something interesting would turn up…" he muttered under his breath. He immediately regretted saying that, as in the next moment, two ships heading towards the moon at high speed came up on their radar.

"All ships! Turn immediately!" he ordered, his eyes going wide with panic and surprise, his expression mirrored by those of his bridge crew, thinking they were under attack. Andre was surprised as the two ships started to slow down. One ship was crimson red while the other was green, and sported a dagger shape, probably designed for high speed.

"Contact the Lunar Base…" he ordered. "…they look nothing like ZAFT ships…" he took a deep breath, "Unidentified vessels, this Captain Andre Ciel of the Atlantic Federation's Lunar Patron; indentify yourself immediately."

After five tense minutes, the line came online, "This is captain Hill Dawson of the Rewloola, we are with the Principality of Zeon. You are not going to believe us, but we're from another world, or rather, a parallel universe from yours. I know it sounds outlandish, but I would like to meet with you in person and explain the situation personally."

After a moment, Andre nodded, and said, "Standby, I'll be heading down personally."

Turning to his crew, he ordered, "Maintain a parallel course with their ships."

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think…"

"I know ensign. Personally, I'm inclined to believe their claims that they're from another world. "I'm sure there's an interesting story behind this, but his is a good chance to get new allies, and we're going to have to put forward our best foot if we're going to take advantage of this situation."

"Sir, yes sir."

* * *

Within minutes, Andre found himself landing in the Rewloola's hangar, where he was met by two guards of green-uniformed and steel-helmeted soldiers led by a junior officer, who proceeded to escort him down the hallway of the ship, While all their green uniforms uncomfortable reminded him of ZAFT soldiers, he also noted the black cape and stylized gold embroidery of the officer's uniform.

After a short few minutes, they reached the Rewloola's bridge with a man standing slightly taller than him wearing similar uniforms, but that of a ship's captain.

"Ah, Captain Ciel…" the Rewloola's captain said, stepping forward to shake his hand with a smile, before reintroducing himself, "…I am the Rewloola's captain, welcome to the Rewloola, captain."

"It's an honour, captain." He said, shaking his hand.

Nodding, Captain Hill walked back to his captain's chair and sat down, "Now then, down to business. If you would enlighten us to your world and its setting, we would be more than happy to inform you of our origins."

* * *

"Did you say they're from another world?" the admiral asked incredulously, causing the lieutenant on the screen to fidget uncomfortably.

"Yes sir, that's what they said."

The admiral sighed, leaned back and looked at the rest of his Command Staff in the Atlantic Federation's Lunar Base. As much as he hated to admit it, it was quite possible the only rational explanation as to the sudden appearance of ships coming from the direction of mars. "And Captain Ciel went alone to negotiate opening relations with the newcomers?"

"Yes sir."

"I see… that will be all for now, lieutenant."

"Sir, yes sir." The lieutenant saluted before the link cut off.

"Captain Ciel has overstepped his authority, admiral." One of his officers stated. "He should have consulted with us before making such a critical move…"

The admiral raised a hand for silence before saying, "Captain Ciel is a field officer. He made a tactica decision and did what he thought best in this situation. I for one intend to reserve judgement until after the results have made themselves manifest."

* * *

**Angrboda, Musaka-Class Cruiser**

"Captain, we have more incoming vessels approaching from the opposite direction as the Federation vessels."

Cursing under his breath, the Captain of the Angrboda ordered his communications officer to open up a link, "Unidentified vessel, this is the Zeon Space Forces Cruiser Angrboda, identify yourselves."

"This is the ZAFT… Descartes."

After another discussion similar to the discussion with the Federation vessels from earlier on, another officer, this one from ZAFT, was on his way to meet with the Angrboda this time instead of the Rewloola, while two groups of vessels hung in parallel courses around Deikun City.

* * *

Three Alliance warships, one Nelson-class and two Drake-class traveled towards the rendezvous point. Aboard the battleship, Atlantic Federation Vice-Foreign Minister Allster conversed with the ship's captain, "Do you think Zeon will align themselves with us or with ZAFT? Or will they opt to remain neutral?" the captain asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure." Minister Allster replied, "If they would align with us it would be a big help, considering the sheer size of their population from the data the Zeon captains gave us, around two billion if they're not exaggerating the data, to say nothing of their industrial capabilities, I mean they control all of Jupiter."

"The opposite would hold true if they sided with ZAFT. And if they chose neutrality it wouldn't do any of us or ZAFT good, much like Orb…" the captain's reply was cut off as alarms began to blare across the bridge.

"N-Jammer interference is increasing rapidly…captain, this is deliberate!"

The captain cursed, "it would appear ZAFT has no intention of allowing us to make contact with Zeon. All hands to stations, an issue a Level One Battle Alert."

* * *

**Gwadan – Her Majesty's Flagship**

**Nearing the Earth's Moon**

"We're detecting massive electromagnetic interference in this entire region of space." A crewman at the Gwadan's sensor console reported.

"M-Particles? No, it's probably an N-Jammer." The captain said. "It looks like either the Alliance or ZAFT has no intention of adhering to the arrangements of the upcoming negotiations. Check the status of our reactors."

"Sir, all of our reactors are functioning at normal parameters."

"That's not surprising…" Mineva commented from her seat on the bridge, "…N-Jammers only interfere with fission reactions and our reactors make us of anuetronic fusion reactions."

"So it would appear…hurry and send out a scout!"

* * *

"All mobile armors have launched!"

"We've detected enemy mobile suit squads – eighteen units!"

"Damn ZAFT! They really don't want us meeting with Zeon do they?" the captain snarled before turning to Minister Allster, "Minster, please proceed to the launch bay and to your personal shuttle. I cannot guarantee yoru safety against eighteen GINNs."

"I understand." Minister Allster said, wiping his face before heading for the bridge doors as the captain bellowed out orders.

* * *

"Incoming laser communication… ZAFT and the Earth Alliance are engaged in combat, eighteen mobile suits against twelve space fighters. The Alliance appears to be on the defensive."

"Well, isn't this nostalgic." Mineva commented sarcastically, "I seem to recall back durin the Gryps War when Haman was going to meet with the AEUG and the Titans and the latter ambushed the former before they could rendezvous with this same ship. Or was it the other way around?"

"Your Highness, do we engage or do we fall back?"

"Let's go and help the Alliance out. While I still have no intention of entering this war, I believe we may have an easier time negotiating with people who actually try to adhere to our agreement regarding the negotiations."

"Understood; have the 10th MS team launch immediately! And contact the _Garencieres_!"

"I'll be heading out myself." Char said with a nod to Mineva, "Prep the Nightingale for launch."

* * *

**_Garencieres_**

The covert cruiser was cloaked using an optical camouflage system, observing the battle between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT when they received orders from the Gwadan. "Captain! Orders from the Gwadan! We have launch orders to assist the Earth Alliance!" Gilboa informed Suberoa.

The ensign looked at the radar, "Sir! Eighteen ZAFT mobile suits! The Rewloola and Angrboda are caught in the crossfire! They can't risk launching mobile suits!"

Suberoa nodded, "Send Marida out."

**NA: SHAZAM! ZAFT has done goofed. What is going to happen? Oh the suspense! Tune in next time on Gundam Unicorn: Marida!**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	10. First Impressions

**NA: Now for some battle and politics! This is getting exciting!**

In theory, it would normally take five Mobius mobile armours to successfully engage, and more importantly, deafeat a single GINN mobile suit. In reality, it would take much more just to survive against the increasingly experienced ZAFT mobile suit pilots (the sole exception being the Mobius Zero mobile armours, which would engage and win against mobile suits on their own).

The battle was a clear example of this combat reality; the eighteen GINNS split into three groups of six, the first group moving to engage the twelve Mobius mobile armours launched by the Alliance warships while the other two groups moved to flank and attack the Alliance vessels. Despite their courage, and their superior numbers, they were simply overwhelmed in no time at all, after which the ZAFT mobile suits moved to assist in attacking the Alliance warships.

The Alliance warships did a sterling job of holding their own against the mobile suits, keeping them at a relatively safe distance with excellent application of suppression fire and keeping them busy with steady missile salvoes. Inevitable, two fo the GINNS broke through and attacked a Drake-class; one mvoede to attack the bridge, but was literally torn apart by one of the Drake-class' 75mm machine guns. The other GINN however, quickly avenged its fallen comrade by raking the Drake's port side with armour-piercing rounds from its 500mm recoilless rifle, causing the ravaged Drake-class to explode in short order.

The ZAFT assault building up momentum, one the GINNS flew behind the other Drake-class and tore its engines to shreds, crippling the hapless vessel.

"Is there nothing we can do?" the Nelson-class' captain ground out, even as the remaining Drake-class exploded and sixteen GINNS swarmed the Nelson-class. A dual beam cannon salve claimed another GINN, before another mobile suit destroyed the same weapon with its 500mm recoilless rifle. Cursing under his breath, the captain opened a link to the Minister's shuttle. "Minister Allster; we can't hold for much…"

"Captain…!" one of the bridge crew interrupted with a panicked voice, causing the captain to look up and see the GINN aiming its 76mm machine gun at the bridge. The captain gasped and his eyes widened in horror even as the ZAFT pilot pulled the trigger… only for the GINN to be impaled by a bright green beam and explode. The two other beams followed and two more ZAFT mobile suits suffered the same fate; a fourth GINN actually managed to avoid a beam, but lost its right arm in the process.

"W-what was that?" the ZAFT pilot asked in confusion; his answer was a good distance away from the combat zone, where the dark green quad-winged giant that was the NZ-666 Kshatriya and its pilot hung in space. Forcing her Newtype powers to the limit, Marida aimed and fired her new beam magnum, the same type the unicorn uses, and destroyed another GINN even as three Geara Zulus finally caught up with and passed the Kshatriya, their mono-eyes flashing menacingly as they entered the combat zone.

"Handle their motherships, these mobile suits are mine." Marida ordered the Zeon pilots.

"Roger!" the three Geara Zulu pilots said in unison.

The partially-disarmed GINN drew its sword and moved to attack the Kshatriya, which was brutally shouldered shouldered aside the ZAFT mobile suit's swing with one of its binders before swinging its beam saber and gutted the GINN.

"What the hell is this thing? It just took out four of our guys like it was nothing!" one of the GINN pilots screamed in disbelief.

The Kshatriya then pursued three more GINNS, which abruptly decelerated in an effort to force the the the large Zeon mobile suit to overshoot. However Marida anticipated this, swinging to the sides; one of her funnels turned and fired a beam shot and crippled the GINN. Before the remaining ten GINNS could fully recover from their surprise, the Kshatriya arrived and launched more of its funnels, brutally destroying five more GINNs in a blazing barrage of green beams. The surviving five GINNS tried to retreat but were wiped out by bright yellow beams.

Marida smirked, "You're late Captain Char Aznable." She said as she spots the humongous crimson red Nightingale coming in.

"Better late than never lieutenant commander." He scanned the battlefield observing the obliterated ZAFT units, "Not bad, you're a Newtype aren't you since you use funnels?"

"Yes sir, the 10th ms team will mop up those ships, it should not be a problem for them." Smirking at the shocked and astounded Alliance bridge crew in her view.

For the crew of the ZAFT Nazca-class Destroyer Galileo, it was anything but random. The bridge crew were still trying to make sense of the loss of contact with all their mobile suits when the Geara Zulu's Bruno gun hi-beam shot literally bisected and the destroyed the Galileo. The captains of the two flanking Laurasia-class Frigates didn't even have the time to pull themselves out of the shock of witnessing the destruction of their flagship when two more Geara Zulu's approached each of them and obliterated them with their Sturmfaust rocket lauchers before returning regrouping with the Kshatriya.

"Captain, I'll escort them, you return to the Gwadan." Marida said, suggesting to the Red Comet.

Char nodded, "Understood, I'll meet you there."

The Nelson-class' captain watched in awe and shock as the three Geara Zulus formed an escort around his ship, while the Kshatriya took up a position beside the bridge. "Captain…" a crewman piped up, "…we're receiving a transmission from the quad-winged mobile suit."

"Put it through."

"Alliance vessel, this is Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz of the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps; we will provide an escort to deter further ZAFT attacks, so maintain course for the rendezvous point."

The Nelson-class' bridge crew were perplexed, a woman was piloting that immensely powerful mobile suit. The bridge crew were murmuring among themselves that a woman was piloting a mobile suit, the captain then shushes them.

"Understood; we appreciate the assistance, Lieutenant Commander."

* * *

If the Alliance personnel were surprised by the sight of Zeon mobile suits in action, they were completely floored several hours later by the Gwadan. The giant battleship, a dark majestic red against the stars and sunlight glinting off of the gold of the Zabi Dynasty crest, escored by several mobile suit squads, was truly a sight to behold for the Alliance.

Minister Allster definitely felt out his depth; first with the revelation that the Zeon fielded their own mobile suits which outclassed those of ZAFT, then the giant Zeon battleship, and finally the reception of the Gwadan's hangar deck. While certainly impressive, the steel helmets of the Zeon infantry and the gold embroidery and black capes of their officers eerily reminded him of both ZAFT and Nazi Germany. He pushed all those things to the back as he and his staff were escorted to the meeting with Zeon's Sovereign, all the while wondering whether or not Zeon's earlier intervention was a good thing or not.

His musing were literally wiped from his head when he entered what he believed to be just another meeting room… which turned out to be a giant throne room. Seated at the far end on a simple yet elegant throne was a young beautiful orange-headed woman in a green military-style uniform with the stylized gold embroidery favoured by Zeon officers, although in place of the black cape she had a simple red cape lacking the gold embroidery of her subordinates.

"Presenting her Highness, the Sovereign of the Principality of Zeon, Mineva Lao Zabi…" a female attendant said formally as Minister Allster and his staff approached the throne and bowed as was protocol when meeting with a foreign sovereign.

"Greetings, Vice-Foreign Minister…" Mineva greeted the man with a welcoming smile, "… I trust your trip wasn't too stressful for you?"

"Tolerable, your Highness…" he replied, "I must thank you again for the assistance of your military without which I fear we would not have made it this far."

"Indeed, then I shall convey your gratitude to our forces." Mineva said with a nod, before holding out a hand. Another attendant handed her a file, which she gave to the Minister. "I understand you have concerns about our… genetic status, regarding the nature of our intervention. I assure you Minister that Coordinators did not exist in our previous world and their existence was most surprising to us when we arrived in this world."

"I see, I apologize for any offence caused, your Highness."

"None taken Minister, but now unto business; firstly, I have no intention of joining your war against ZAFT. You must understand Minister that our arrival was a result of an anomaly in the Jupiter Sphere where we reside. We left our universe's Earth and moved to Jupiter due to our bloody history with it, and we have no intention of drowning ourselves in blood yet again. However, we are willing to give certain concessions; for one thing, we are willing to supply your military base on the Moon with non-military manufactures, in exchange for construction of a city on the other side of the moon. As I understand it, your Lunar Base is both a military facility and a city, is it not?"

"No, you are correct. The Lunar Base is both a military facility and a city." Minister Allster said; this was going fat better than he had hoped. While the fact that they had no desire to join the Alliance was troublesome, unlike Orb, they weren't simply going to turn a blind eye to the world's situation. "However, if I may be so bold your Highness, I do not believe that to be your only condition from us."

Mineva smiled as she sat back on her throne. "You are correct Minister. I want diplomatic recognition from all Alliance member states, which should be enough to pressure both PLANT and the neutral nations recognizing us as well. A consulate and a trade mission will be established at the Free City of Copernicus on the Moon, and while entry to Side 3 in Jupiter will be restricted for the foreseeable future, I believe we may be able to come to further terms in the future once this war is over."

"Your Highness, your terms are most generous." Minister Allster said with a nod; Zeon's Sovereign was clearly trying to sit on the fence, but with enough incentives for the Alliance to let the matter go and indirectly pressuring PLANT to recognize Zeon as well out of fear that alienating the newcomers would lead to their aligning with the Alliance. "I do believe my superiors will accept them."

"Very good, Minister." Mineva said, rising from her throne and smoothing out her uniform, "I am pleased we are able to agree at this early stage; would you and your staff care to dine with me Minister?"

"It will be an honour, your Highness."

* * *

A few days later, the PLANT Supreme Council was in an uproar over the diplomatic recognition by the Earth Alliance member-states of the Principality of Zeon, which was quickly followed by the neutral nations. Patrick Zala in particular was seething; he had covertly given the order to Commander Mitchells to ambush the Earth Alliance delegation to ensure that PLANT could contact the newcomers first, but somewho the Alliance had not only managed to fight them off, but also completely destroy the Mitchells Team. He suspected that Zeon had a hand in it, but ZAFT Intelligence was unable to acquire any further information on the matter; entrance to Jupiter's Side 3 was impregnable and shrouded in a communications blackout, although Zeon prospectors were reported to be combing the dark side of the Moon.

"Damn that Mitchells! If he hadn't broken Zeon's terms regarding the negotiations, we might have been able to ensure complete neutrality from the Principality!" the usually reserved and moderate Councillor Canaver raged.

"Commander Mitchells was only acting in our best interests! "Councillor Joule snapped back, rising to defend the late Commander's actions, though she was unaware of Zala's orders. "You cannot deny that if we had solely made contact with the Principality, then perhaps we could have gained some sympathy from them and ensured their support!"

"And now they distrust us for breaking trust!" Councillor Canaver riposted, but before the two women could continue verbally exchange blows, another Councillor cut in.

"What's done is done; what we need to decide right now is ZAFT strategy."

"I agree…" another Councillor said, "… the Atlantic Federation's Lunar base is now no longer completely dependent on supplies from Earth with an active source of non-military supplies from the Principality."

"It doesn't matter." Councillor Zala finally spoke up, "Once we take the spaceports on Earth, we can simply blockade the Lunar Base until they surrender."

This statement managed to calm the council down somewhat, and earned Zala a grateful nod from the Chairman Clyne, which he graciously returned.

**NA: WOW! That is a lot of politics. ZAFT just got their asses handed to them by Zeon's Mobile Suits. Zeon is planning to create the city of Granada like in UC on the Moon, they have a base on Mars, dear lord they are powerful. Mineva is really good at politics. Kushina will make a reappearance next chapter. A lot is happening!**

**Don't forget to review and SIEG ZEON!**


	11. Heliopolis

**NA: And here we are again! This fanfic seems to be going quite well, thanks once again to BloodRavenFan for allowing me to adopt his fanfic and implementing it to mine, you are an amazing writer. ON TO THE STORY!**

_Universal Century 0098; Six months have passed since the space colonies of Side 3 in Jupiter arrived in the Cosmic Era. The Principality has thus far maintained its neutrality, although it maintains a controversial trading arrangement with the Earth Alliance's Lunar Base, all the while shrouding itself with a veil of deception. But as the eleventh of the Bloody Valentine War passes, and the turning point steadily approaches, the Principality finds itself increasingly drawn into the world of the Cosmic Era._

"This had better be good." Mineva growled at her aides as they rushed into her house's dining room where the young woman was enjoying her breakfast, "What's so important that you couldn't wait for me to get to my office or that you couldn't be bothered to send me via vid-phone?"

Silently, one of her aides handed her a file; sighing Mineva set down her coffee before taking the file and quickly skimming through it. The irritated look on her face quickly changed to alarm before she burst out, "Kaohsiung has fallen! How recent is this information?"

"Well, taking into consideration both N-Jammer and Minovsky Particle interference, then most likely…" an aide began but broke off as Mineva stood and walked over to a window.

"ZAFT intends to trap the Naturals on Earth…" she said softly, "But the Coordinators lack evolutionary potential. It seems to me, seeing as Humanity's souls are even weighed down by gravity here, we have a lot more work to do than I initially thought."

* * *

**_-Garencieres-_**

**Grouped with the Musaka-class Cruiser Angrboda**

**Near Heliopolis colony**

Marida was on a vid-phone with her mother in her quarters, over the six months that has passed, Konoha was attacked during the chunin exams by a man named Orochimaru, he used a strange technique that revived the dead to do his bidding, including her birth father Minato Namikaze, somehow he was completely revived instead of some controlled drone like the others Orochimaru had resurrected.

"Mom I know you are still angry with him, but at least try to talk to him, I'm over it already, I have a good life now." Marida said, trying to reason with her mother.

"I know, it's just I still can't forgive him for sealing the Kyuubi into you, because of that for the first ten years of your life you suffered." Kushina argued.

Marida sighed, "I know, but look at me now, I am a successful career officer in the Zeon Armed Forces, heck I practically own the Kshatriya since no one else can pilot it."

Kushina smiled over the vid-phone, "I know, and I am so proud of you."

"Look mother, you don't have to forgive him right away, that takes time, but at least try and talk to him, because you both need to settle this or this will only worsen as time passes." she then looks over her shoulder "Look I have to go, I have a mission and I'll be leaving in a few, and tell the triplets to stop fighting over the cat, love you mom, bye."

* * *

"Love you too Marida, I will and take care." She then turns to her new adopted daughters Marida brought in six months ago. They were fighting over the Scottish Fold kitten, "Mika Rika and Nika! Mr. Fluffy is not a toy, he is a cat, a living being! Honestly why did Marida even name him that?"

* * *

On the Earth Sphere, aboard the ZAFT Nazca-class Destroyer Vesalius, Commander Rau Le Creuset floated back into the centre of the bridge, "What's with the troubled look, Ades?"

"I still think we should wait for further orders from the Supreme Council."

"It's too late for that." Rau responded, sending several pictures to his subordinate, "The Earth Forces' new mobile weapons; we have to move quickly before they can be taken away from here."

Even as he said those words, several transports wrapped in shock-absorbing balloons and moving on inertial thrust dropped down onto Heliopolis. Immediately after touch down, ZAFT soldiers in normal suits emerged, and after spending a few minutes performing last-minute equipment checks, headed towards a secured hatch leading to the spaceport's restricted sections. It took a few more minutes for the ZAFT virus to shut down the security systems and to allow the ZAFT infiltrators to enter the hatch.

* * *

An hour later, on the other side of the colony, the Kshatriya and a white mobile suit with a single horn on its head soared towards Heliopolis on inertial thrust. Aboard the white horned mobile suit, Lieutenant Banagher Links was caught off guard when he felt something tugging on his senses, causing him to look around the star-scape in surprise, "Who was that just now?"

* * *

In Heliopolis' spaceport, Lieutenant Mu La Flaga was overseeing the maintenance of his Mobius Zeor when he felt something tug at his mind, "Le Creuset… no, it's something else. But what or who is it?"

* * *

Aboard the Vesalius, Rau was sitting in the bridge when he felt something tug at his mind, causing him to look around in surprise.

"Is something worng, Commander?" Captain Ades asked in concern.

"No, it's probably nothing." Rau replied; it felt like Mu, but somehow he knew it wasn't. In any case, he also knew somehow that he sensed wasn't a threat, so he decided to leave it be to focus on his current mission.

* * *

Banagher quickly sent a message via optical communication to his mission commander, "Did you sense that?"

"Yes… two of them I think." Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz answered in the same manner.

_"Newtypes here; how interesting… both Mineva and Captain Char will need to know about this." _Banagher mused, but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind as he closed in on Heliopolis. Firing off quick bursts from their manoeuvering jets to slow them down, the Kshatriya and the Unicorn landed on Heliopolis near an external airlock. This one was routinely used by civilian personnel to inspect the outer hull damage, so it wasn't secured.

Strapping on a jet pack and opening her cockpit, Marida used a hand laser to send a message to Banagher, "Keep an eye on my unit."

"Understood…" the Unicorn's eyes flashed the reply back.

Floating over to the airlock, Marida tapped in the stolen access code allowing her to open, enter, and pressurize the airlock without tripping an alarm. Floating through several hallways and up an access tunnel, all the while keeping her pilot suit sealed despite the pressurized environment, Marida found herself before a locked pressure door that led into the colony's interior. Sighing as her stolen code failed to unlock the door she affixed a piece of plastic explosive onto the lock and set a timer. Double-checked her side-arm and other equipment one more time, she armed the bomb before returning and taking cover behind the last corner just seconds before the bomb exploded and blew the door open.

Heading to the jagged hole in the wall, Marida adjusted her jetpack to the colony's air pressure before flying out towards the colony's central cable assembly – a feat that took a quarter of an hour to achieve. She finally reached it as the first explosions from the spaceport rocked the colony.

"ZAFT's begun their capture operation it seems." She growled, taking out her binoculars and began to look around her. After several minutes of fruitless searching, she found what she was look for, a military convoy escorting several skeletal mobile suit containers, "Amazing…" she said, as she began to take pictures with her binocular's camera function, "Gundams and three of them to boot; strange, the data said there'd be five. Are the other two not here yet?"

Marida's attention was further piqued by the arrival of two GINN mobile suits which quickly demolished the military convoy, allowing ZAFT infiltrators to launch a drop assault and move to capture the Alliance Gundams.

"Not bad at all…" Marida said with a genuine respect in her voice, "Although I can't help but feel as though I'm watching the early stages of the Battle of Side 7 play out right in front of me." As the battle petered out and the three Gundams and one of the GINNs flew off, Marida moved to another vantage point from where she could view and record the activities of the other GINN and the infiltrators who broke away from the main group earlier on. She was not to be kept waiting for long, as the Aegis and the Strike emerged from the explosion of a large building. The former lander near the GINN while the latter landed clumsily nearby and staggered away.

"Hey, what's with that pilot?" Marida complained, "It's like he or she doesn't know how to pilot the unit properly." She continued to watch and record as the GINN drew its sword and assaulted the Strike and was shocked at how the mobile suit changed colour and blocked the assault. "What the hell was that; conformal shielding of some kind?"

As the Aegis launched and left the combat zone, Marida lowered her binoculars and closed her eyes, reaching out with her powers, "_Banagher, can you hear me?"_

_"Yes, what do you need ma'am?"_

_"Send an optical communication to your ship and have them provide support. One of the Gundams is leaving the colony unescorted. Capture it, but make sure to minimize the damage as much as possible."_

_"Yes ma'am." _Banagher turned his mobile suit the Unicorn Gundam and sent a message via optical communications back to his ship. In response the Musaka-class Cruiser hiding behind several dummy asteroids some distance from Heliopolis fired an M-Missile to distrupt electromagnitc signatures in the vicinity of the spaceport, even as Banagher deployed a dummy asteroid to hide behind and with a short from burst from his engines to provide the initial thrust, headed for the spaceport.

Meanwhile Marida continued to watch and record the battle, and was rather shocked to see the Strike's pilot improve his or her performance against the GINN, ultimately disabling it. Unfortunately, the ZAFT pilot managed to escape and after setting his unit to self-destruct, knocking the Strike down. Realizing that the battle was over, Marida stowed her gear and headed back to her Kshatriya.

* * *

Hidden behind a dummy asteroid, Banagher and his Unicorn Gundam coasted through space and watched the spaceport for any sign of a Gundam. He was not kept waiting for long as a red and black Gundam flew out into space. "There you are." He hissed as he activated the Unicorn's NT-D system and launched his two shields armed with beam gatling guns as funnels and launched them from behind the dummy asteroid.

Athrun Zala was busy reminiscing about his childhood with Kira and trying to reason out how and why he was with the Earth Alliance when the Aegis shook violently and began to lose speed. At the same time, several alarms began to go off and screens flashed red. "The engines were destroyed?" he said in disbelief, before white mobile suit with green lights shining appeared in front of him to his surprise, the mobile suit's head was…

"Another Gundam!?" Athrun said in disbelief. Why was there another Gundam that wasn't among the five they were supposed to capture?

It fired something at him and at first he thought he was going to die but nothing happened… when immediately afterwards, he felt the Aegis begin to move. Realization hit him like a bullet: he'd been captured. He immediately tried to escape, but discovered to his horror that the hatch was jammed, probably by something the enemy Gundam launched at him. Resigned to his fate and exhausted by the many shocks of the day, he sat back in the cockpit and wondered who was behind this.

A quarter of an hour later, Banagher's Gundam landed in the Musaka-class' hangar with the captured and disable Aegis. A few minutes later, Marida arrived in her Kshatriya.

"Hurry and close the hatch so we can pressurize the hangar deck!" an NCO shouted irritably. Once the pressurization was done, Banagher opened and left the cockpit before removing his helmet with a sigh.

"Good work, lieutenant." Marida said, floating closer and tossing him a drink, "By the way, that was good thinking using birdlime to prevent the pilot from escaping."

"Thanks commander. Unfortunately for the tech crews though, they'll have to pry it off before they can get the pilot out."

"True; but at the very least, that Gundam is largely intact. I'll be heading back to the _Garencieres _soon. Once you guys get it back to Side 3, we can get a good look at how far Orb and the Alliance have come regarding their mobile suits." She then waved Banagher a good-bye as she got back to the Kshatriya, she still has long term mission to complete with the _Garencieres._

* * *

"Ahtrun is MIA?" Yzak asked a devastated and despondent Nicol, aghast at the news; despite their rivalry, he still counted Ahtrun as a friend and didn't want to see him dead.

"Yes; both the Vesalius and the Gamow detected a thermo-spike consistent with an explosion near the spaceport; given the elapsed time after he left Miguel, then…"

"No way… Athrun… but how?" a shocked Dearka stammered out.

"The self-destruct system…" Yzak growled, his fists clenched in fury, "Athrun's unit must have a secondary failsafe our units lacked. There is no way Athrun is stupid enough not to disarm the self-destruct… damn Naturals!"

* * *

**_-Garencieres-_**

Marida returned to her mother ship, and gave her father and commanding officer a copy of the recordings she made in Heliopolis.

"Excellent work Marida." Captain Suberoa Zinnerman said, nodding to Marida before returning his attention to the recorded data with great interest. "Along with the captured Alliance Gundam the Angrboda is bringing back to Side 3, all this will be a goldmine four intelligence operations."

"Thank you very much sir." Marida chorused. Suberoa smiled at his daughter, if this keeps up, she will soon have command of her own ship. He then turned off the recording before turning to the rest of the bridge crew.

"All hands, we will remain here in his position, we still have a mission to complete."

"Captain…" Lieutenant Flaste Schole called out, "We've detected some sort of explosion along one of the colony's walls. We also detected something that may have been mobile suits."

"It looks like ZAFT aren't going to let that fifth Gundam go." Marida said, "They'll capture or destroy it with a massive offensive."

"So it would seem." Captain Suberoa said, thinking deeply. Finally, he made a decision and turned to his daughter, "You and Elpeo Puru 12 will be on standby in your units."

"Yes sir." Marida saluted, she was about to turn and leave the bridge when her father sat down in the command chair and waited for the outcome of the battle. She and her father found themselves rising out in shock as Heliopolis launched countless escape pods even as it literally fell apart. Her hand covering her mouth, "Father, the colony… Heliopolis."

The entire bridge crew stared in horror as the space colony breaks apart. Suberoa couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"No way; Heliopolis collapsed…"

**NA: And thus the start of the first season of SEED begins, Heliopolis has collapsed! Athrun has been captured, so as an individual he won't be a major factor around Kira and Lacus. Kira and Lacus will still be the pairing so fret not my dear readers! The crew of the ****_Garencieres_**** will be playing a major role in the Bloody Valenine War alongside the Archangel. The Unicorn has finally made its appearance, and it's with the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps, HURRAY!**

**As for the Unicorn, its NT-D glows green instead of red, if you have watched Unicorn until the end, you will know why it glowed green instead.**

**Minato will make some appearances in this fanfic, but overall he is just a minor character. Kushina will make more appearances over the next chapters.**

**Yes Marida has a cat named Mr. Fluffy.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	12. Assistance and Quattro

**NA: Time for the ****_Garencieres _****to reveal themselves to the Archangel, which pretty much looks like the White Base. OH THE FUN!**

**30+ Reviews and over 2600+ Views! Thank you so much guys!**

* * *

**_Garencieres_**

**Near the now ruins of Heliopolis**

"A space colony was destroyed… her Highness will not be pleased." The _Garencieres' _Captain Suberoa Zinnerman said unhappily. There were precious few Naturla space colonies, and while the Sovereign had nothing against Coordinators in particular, she feared that if the Coordinators were allowed to gain sole control of space, the whole of Humanity would pay the price for it.

"At the very least father, the whole population seems to have escaped to safety." A subordinate said.

"That is only a small comfort. They'll have no choice but to return to Earth, given the nature of Orb's neutrality. At the very least, the destruction of the colony due to a ZAFT military operation will be a disaster to Zeon-PLANT relations, and even more so for PLANT-Orb relations." Suberoa sighed before barking out new orders, "We are moving out, track as many escape pods as you can, and make sure they have been recovered safely!"

Lieutenant Flaste then got their attention, "Captain, we're picking up a signal from somewhere nearby."

"What kind of signal?"

"It appears to be a standard civilian distress signal, most likely from a disabled civilian escape pod."

The captain nodded, Naval protocol demanded that all Zeon Navy vessels to assist civilians in distress.

"Can we find it from here?"

"Negativesir; between our own Minovsky Particle interference and ZAFT/Alliance N-Jammers, plus radiating from the ruins…"

Suberoa turned to his daughter, "Marida launch immediately. Locate the source and report on the situation." Marida nodded and made her way to the Kshatriya.

* * *

Marida slowly flew through the debris field, searching for the source of the signal, all the while unhappily contemplating the ruins of Heliopolis. Heliopolis was an O'Neill cylinder, and very much resembled her home colony in Side 3. She pushed the morbid thoughts aside and moved her Kshatriya behind a piece of debris as she spotted the disable escape pod and more importantly, the Gundam beside it.

She narrowed her eyes as she spotted the additional equipment strapped to the Gundam; they weren't there when she had watched that Gundam in action during the battle in Heliopolis.

_"Is that Gundam designed to be equipped with a variety of equipment for various situations?" _she mused, even as the Gundam grabbed the pod and took it elsewhere. Pondering for a moment, she stealthily moved her Kshatriya to follow. After several minutes of flight, she hid behind another piece of debris with a gasp: the Gundam had taken the escape pod to a ship, and not just another ship: it was a virtual carbon copy of the so-called Trojan horse, the White Base.

"The White Base… is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" she asked rhetorically and not for the first time she thought that the whole situation was very much like the Battle of Side 7 during the Universal Century's One Year War. As the Alliance Gundam entered one of the hangars, Marida nodded before continuing to follow, while sending reports back to her mother ship.

* * *

Two hours later, Lieutenant Commander Marida was shadowing the Archangel while creatively hiding behind several dummies and pieces of debris. She wasn't the only one who noticed the similarities between recent events of the Battle of Side 7, and her father in particular was certain that they were headed for the nearby Eurasian asteroid fortress of Artems, which was another uncomfortable parallel to the Universal Century, seeing as both Heliopolis and Artemis were in the same general location of Side 7 and Luna II were in the Universal Century.

And so, she had been ordered to escort them to Artemis while avoiding detection, as the captain feared that ZAFT would ambush them (endangering the civilians on board) en route to the fortress. Which was easier said than done of course; once they had left the bulk of the debris field behind them, she had to make creative use of dummies and what few pieces of debris there were to avoid detection.

Thankfully though, ZAFT didn't seem to be pursuing. She was hoping to have successfully escort them without having to fight, she sensed another Newtype, one with a definitely hostile mentality, even as her unit's sensors picked up another vessel outlflanking the Archangel and moving to overtake and cut off the vessel before they could reach the relative safety of Artemis.

* * *

"The Mobius Zero has arrived on the catapult deck… linear catapult voltage rising… unit stabilized in linear field… launch preparations complete… Lieutenant La Flaga is clear for launch." Miriallia said as Mu's mobile armour moved into launch position and the external doors slid open.

"Roger; Mu La Flaga, Mobius Zero, launching!" Mu responded while bracing himself against the intense G-Forces of launch.

_"Good luck, pilot." _A woman's voice spoke to him in his head. While he would normally freak out as a result of hearing a disembodied voice in his head, Mu was by no means stupid. The rather strange feeling that someone was following them while overseeing the repairs of his mobile armour. And now he knew who.

_"Do you mind?" _he asked, silently casting the thought back even as he manoeuvred to an intercept course for the ZAFT warship to the front of the Archangel, "_I'm not averse to some feminine company, but please don't distract me while I'm flying on the battlefield."_

There was a moment of silence before the sullen reply ghosted back, _"You can talk to me now?"_

_"Yes, I can."_

_"Apologies if I have distracted you, I was just trying to reach you, I have been ordered to escort your ship to safety."_

_"Why are you helping us?" _Mu asked bluntly.

_"You have civilians aboard; the captain was a veteran of the Battle of Side 5, and he didn't want any more dead civilians during his watch."_

_"Side 5… you're from the Principality aren't you?"_

_"If I say yes, will you inform your superiors?"_

_"No…" _Mu replied firmly, _"If I said that I spoke telepathically with a Zeon pilot, they'd probably have me committed. But in exchange, would you mind telling me how I'm doing this?"_

_"Fair enough…" _the pilot conceded, _"We're called Newtypes, the next stage of Human evolution, and our abilities are a natural adaptation from living in the environment of space. In addition to telepathy, other abilities of ours include, but are not limited to, faster reflexes and increased spatial awareness."_

_"I see. Well, that explains a few things." _Mu conceded, remembering the skills he and his late comrades needed to possess to pilot the famed Mobius Zero mobile armours. _"Alright, I'll trust you for now, so would you mind keeping an eye on Kira and the Archangel for me? The kid's a bit inexperienced and…"_

_"Understood." _The pilot replied, _"Just concentrate on attacking that ship to the front."_

* * *

As she disconnected her mind from Mu's, she turned back to the Archangel, which was steadily firing off ordnance and artillery to keep the captured Gundams at bay. "Impressive, they have a lot of ordnance to spare." She commented, "Though that's not worth much in a Minovsky Particle-rich environment, while their artillery seems to barely have range to compete with most ship-grade Mega Particle Cannons."

She noted the skill of the ZAFT pilots with approval, seeing that they were up to Zeon standards. The pilot of the Alliance Gundam though, Kira or something, was somewhat lacking, or so it seemed it to her, most of his shots going wild or following a simple and easily evaded firing pattern. "Inexperienced brat…" she muttered, thinking Kira was one of those hastily trained pilots, not knowing that the boy had been forced to become a pilot without any sort of military training whatsoever. "Three against one; at this rate, you're practically begging for me to interfere."

* * *

Rau sat in his command chair and smiled as the Alliance warship finally came into the Vesalius' firing rang. "Main cannons prepare to fire…" his subordinate and the Vesalius' captain Ades ordered, "…standby on laser range-finders."

_"It's over…" _he began to think when he felt something… or someone sneak up on the ship from below. "Belay that, and execute evasive manoeuvres immediately!" he shouted, causing Ades to look at him in surprise, when a crewman said in alarm, "We have a mobile armour closing from below!"

"Activate the CIWS!" he began to order, but it was too late. At the moment, Mu brought his mobile armour up ninety degrees, before launching his gun-pods and having them fire on a single point to at least superficially weaken the armour before he fired his linear cannon, rupturing the Vesalius' main engines. As the Vesalius began to list and lose power, Mu let out a victory shout even as he launched a cable and used it to slingshot his unit away from the stricken warship at high speed.

"Enemy mobile armour has retreated… main power failing… main engines are offline…" the bridge crew reported one after another.

"Shoot it down!" Ades ordered, but was countermanded by Rau.

"We're withdrawing! Issue the retreat signal!"

"Commander, we have a high-energy reading detected from dead ahead!" a crewman shouted in panic.

"Engines to full…" Rau shouted with a wave of an arm, "…evade it!"

Its auxiliary engines burning bright, the Vesalius barely dodged, but took serious damage along the starboard side form the Archangel's positron barrage. Seeing the damage, Mu clenched a fist triumphantly even as a thought ghosted in from the Zeon pilot. _"Not bad at all."_

Mu chuckled at the comment, _"Why thank you , name's Mu, Mu La Flaga, what's yours little girl?"_

_"It's not little girl to you lieutenant; it's Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz. Wait, your friend is in a bit of a tight spot."_

* * *

Marida smirked as she launched her funnels; just moments ago, the conformal shielding on the Alliance Gundam had failed causing the pilot to break and flee as another Gundam closed in with a pair of beam sabres drawn.

"This is the end!" Yzak shouted, as she swung his sabres… only to shout incoherently as the Duel shook violently as green beams blew off its arms at the elbows.

"What?" Dearka said in surprise just before more beams blew off the Buster's head and missile pods, along with the Blitz' right arm.

"Damn it… we have to retreat, Yzak, Dearka!" Nicole shouted, piloting the Blitz towards the blinded Buster and dragging it back to the Gamow with the Duel flying close behind.

As she retrieved her funnels and flew back to escort position with the Archangel, Marida sighed in relief as she heard Yzak spitting out oaths like melon seeds over the ZAFT channel. Elsewhere, Mu was impressed at the pilot's skills, damaging three gundams in mere seconds, "Not bad Lieutenant, not bad at all." As he returned to the Archangel, Captain Murrue Ramius heard a voice over the channel.

"Attention Alliance warship, this is Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz of the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps. You have Orb civilians on board, and me along with my mother ship the _Garencieres_ have been ordered to escort you to Orb to ensure the safety of the civilians. We look forward to working with you all from now on." Marida said, as she turns off the comm channel. Bringing the Kshatriya within visual of the Archangel's bridge.

Murrue along with the bridge crew widened their eyes, the Zeon mobile suit was huge, bigger than the Gundams. Mu entered the bridge quickly and widened his eyes in shock, "No way! That's the quad-wing!"

Lieutenant Natarle Badgiruel refused to believe it, "Lieutenant that's just a myth to scare ZAFT pilots!"

Mu shook his head, "That is no myth Natarle." The crew looked at him in confusion, especially the civilians who volunteered to help out. He looked at them with a straight face, "The quad-wing is real, as many of you know, over the six months since Zeon arrived, ZAFT got into a few skirmishes with them, there was a large green quad-winged mobile suit that destroyed 10 GINNs in mere seconds."

The entire bridge crews' eyes widened like dinner plates, Murrue couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Mu, is there really a mobile suit that powerful already?"

The Lieutenant nodded, pointing to the quad-wing flying in front of them, "We're looking at it."

The _Garencieres_ then made its appearance beside the Archangel as it decloaked. Murrue stood up in surprise that a ship came out of nowhere. "Alliance Warship, this is Commander Suberoa Zinnerman of the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps, we will be escorting you to Orb, with your permission we would like Marida to dock into your ship."

Murrue nodded, "Of course Commander, thank you for your assistance." She then gave out orders, "Prep the hangar! We have one more mobile suit coming to dock." she says as she returns to her seat, "What scares me a bit is that they look like ZAFT mobile suits."

Mu chuckled, "Just don't let them hear you say that captain, Zeon-PLANT relations aren't exactly good right now. PLANT especially dislikes them since none of the Zeon soldiers are coordinators."

"Are you saying they're Naturals that live in space?" Natarle asked, perplexed that they were that good in piloting mobile suits.

Mu laughed, "Yep! One more thing, the pilot of the quad-wing? Is a woman." At that, everyone in bridge except Mu, was completely floored.

* * *

At the hangar Kira Yamato got out of his mobile suit when he noticed another one coming in, he was shocked at the sight of it. It had four wings, but what intimidated him the most was the sheer size of the machine, it was larger than the Strike.

His friends came in when they noticed the large green mobile suit as well, "Is this for real? There is now way a mobile suit can be that big!" Tolle exclaimed in disbelief.

They watched as the mobile suit's cockpit opens, revealing a pilot wearing a maroon suit lowering down. Everyone in the hangar approached the pilot as he removed his helmet. Revealing long red hair and bluish purple eyes.

"Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz of the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps, pilot of the NZ-666 Kshatriya." Marida stood there formally as she introduced herself.

The entire hangar deck was shocked, a woman was piloting that monstrosity. Tolle's jaw was completely down, "A-a-a a girl!?"

Marida glared at the boy, "Yes a girl, you have a problem with that?"

Tolle immediately shook his head. Kira then noticed the Captain entering the hangar along with Miriallia Lieutenant Natarle and Lieutenant Mu. As they enter the hangar, they awed at the sheer size and armaments of the mobile suit.

Murrue composed herself and approached the Zeon pilot as she reached out her hand, "I am Captain Murrue Ramius, I would like to thank you for your assistance Lieutenant Commander, if you weren't there to help, we might not have made it."

Marida took her hand and shook it, "Think nothing of it captain, you had civilians on board, and we were obligated to assist you. Besides, we were headed for Orb on an assignment, so our goals intertwined, I look forward to working with you in the meantime." She then scanned the area with her eyes, "Now then, who is the pilot of this Gundam here?"

Everyone eyed Kira as he stepped forward, "I am the pilot of the Strike."

Marida nodded, "I see, well then boy, your skills are lacking, not to mention your shots are wild and predictable. Are you purposely trying to miss, hoping you won't have to kill them?"

Kira winced as his friends came to defend him, "Hey! He tried his best out there! Besides this is practically his first mission!" Flay Allster argued.

Marida sighed, "Even Zeon's Gundam pilot is far more skilled than you when he flew the first time."

Murrue and the rest gasped, "The Principality has a Gundam!?"

Marida nodded, "Yes, we do. I will not go into details on what it is though." Turning to Kira, "You are going to need a lot of work. Remember this is a war, you will have no time to hesitate or take second guesses. Do those and you along with your friends on board this ship will perish." She stated coldly.

Kira lowered his head, he knew she was right, but he still did not want to kill.

"Now then, captain I would like to know where your mess hall is? Fighting in a battle can leave you hungry." Marida said with a smile to the captain.

Mu laughed, "I like you already!" as he and Murrue led Marida out of the hangar.

Tolle gritted his teeth, "Who the hell does she think she is to talk to Kira like that? All Kira did was do his best out there!"

Lieutenant Natarle turned to the brown headed boy, "By the look in her eyes, she's a war veteran. She probably fought a previous war prior to Zeon arriving into our universe."

Kira and his friends Tolle, Flay, Sai and the rest looked at the lieutenant with widened eyes. This female pilot is a war veteran?

Natarle sighed, "You have to understand, people have become soldiers for a long time think differently. In the battlefield they don't have time to feel. By the look of her mobile suit and her personality, I'm guessing she's with Zeon's Special Forces."

Miriallia looked down, "I just can't believe she's that strong, she practically disabled three Gundams in seconds."

Kira didn't know what to make of it all, the sudden appearance of a monstrous quad-winged mobile suit that was more powerful than any of the G-weapons combined frightened him to no end.

* * *

Meanwhile on Earth, three girls chatted animatedly with each other as they walked down a hallway in Morgenroate's central facility in the Orb Union. They were the so-called 'Astray Girls': Asagi Caldwell, Juri Wu Nien, and Mayura Labatt, and they were wondering what was so important that they were being called in on what was supposed to be their day off from training and testing.

To their surprise, there were only a few people in the facility, including Senior Engineer Erica Simmons, who was standing on a raised and stepped platform beside a large, rectangular container speaking with a blonde-haired man wearing the Standard Morgenroete uniform, though strangely enough the man was wearing sunglasses indoors.

"Oh good, you finally got here." Erica said, noticing the girls turning towards them, the blonde man doing likewise, "What you're about to hear is not to leave this facility, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." The three girls chorused as the security doors were closed, though that wasn't unusual given the sensitive nature of the work going on in the facility.

"Good…" Erica said, nodding. "…I'm sure that you've heard rumours that the Principality of Zeon has its own mobile suits which can be piloted by Naturals. And I'm here to tell you… that those rumours are correct."

As the girls gasped in surprise, Erica continued, "The mechanical systems in their units are actually deceptively simple, and surprisingly advanced, so much so that computer control is not needed to the same degree as ours do. We're already working to try and reverse-engineer the technology, but it will take some time to refit our existing units. Until then, you'll be working with a new set of simulator programs, after which, well… In any case, allow me to introduce to you Lieutenant Quattro Bajeena from the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps."

At this, Lieutenant Quattro stepped forward and nodded, removing his sunglasses as he regarded the three girls.

"Once your units have been refitted with the UC AMBAC system, he'll be overseeing your practical training and with that said…" she broke off as she pulled out and pressed a remote which slowly opened the container beside them. Most of the people present gasped at the sight of the mono-eyed, crested, red and maroon mobile suit which stood in the container.

"…MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type. An outdated mobile suit by current standards, but in its day this unit was a feared force in the battlefield. Especially these colours… from what I hear, these were the colours of Zeon's legendary 'Red Comet' Char Aznable." Turning to Quattro, she asked, "Is there any particular reason why you have his colours, lieutenant? Was he a friend of yours, perhaps?"

Quattro smiled a wintery, but friendly smile before he put his sunglasses back on, "Well yes, I suppose you could say I was good friends with Char."

* * *

**NA: Well that was interesting, Kira got lectured. And Quattro….. If you don't even know who Quattro is, why are you even interested in UC? SHAME ON YOU! **

***Sighs* Honestly I will never understand how the heck he gets away with such a paper thin disguise. **

**Marida is finally aboard the Archangel!**

**The Astray girls are going to be the Black Tri-Stars of the Cosmic Era.**

**This chapter was longer than usual. Thanks once again to BloodRavenFan for letting me adopt his fanfic and allowing me to incorporate the story into mine.**

**Will Mr. Fluffy make an appearance?**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	13. Zeon's Machinations and Lacus

**NA: Wow I am getting a lot of views, did not think people would really enjoy this much.**

* * *

**-Story Start-**

**_Garencieres_**

**Flying beside the Archangel**

**Near the ruins of Junius Seven**

Captain Zinnerman was sitting on his command chair when Lieutenant Flaste gave an announcement, "Captain, I'm picking up a distress beacon in the ruins of Junius Seven."

"In the ruins? Can we get a visual?"

"We'll be in range soon sir." Flaste replied

Suberoa nods, "Inform the Archangel that we picked up a distress signal."

* * *

**Archangel**

Marida floated into ship's bridge when they received a message from the_ Garencieres_. "I heard there's a distress beacon in the ruins."

"Yes, this one seems to be recent. Lieutenant Commander, what are your thoughts?"

Marida placed a hand on her chin in a thinking position, "Probably a civilian ship from the PLANTS, today is the anniversary of the destruction of Junius Seven, so I am guessing PLANT sent a ship to do a memorial. I am thinking an Alliance ship attacked it out of suspicion, it's quite a common sight to see. A lot of soldiers would just want to blow off some steam and then make a cover story."

Murrue sighed, civilians caught in the crossfire were a common sight, but still something they hate to see. "We can have the Strike intercept it."

Marida nods, "I will join in, if Zeon intercepts the transmission, we can hopefully lessen the tension between PLANT and the Principality."

"Understood." The captain turns to Miriallia, "Have the Strike and Kshatriya ready for launch."

A few minutes later Kira and Marida were floating to their units, Marida gets into her cockpit, "Ensign Kira, this is a retrieval mission, so expect anything. This could be a trap as well."

"U-understood." Kira acknowledges, still nervous about this whole thing.

"The Kshatriya and the Strike have arrived on the catapult decks… linear catapult voltage rising… unit stabilized in linear field… launch preparations complete… Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz and Ensign Kira Yamato are clear for launch." Miriallia said as both mobile suits move into launch positions.

Marida puts on her helmet, "Understood; Marida Cruz, Kshatriya, launch!"

Kira lowers his helmet visor, "Roger, Kira Yamato, Strike, I'm heading out!"

Both units sped through the launch deck and fly off into the ruins; they near the area and spot a heavily damaged ship. Marida then activates her commlink, "Archangel and _Garencieres,_ this is Marida. I spotted a disabled PLANT shuttle. Looks like my assumptions were right, it was attacked. Moving in to investigate. No sign of any warship in the area though."

"Understood, be careful out there."

As the Kshatriya closes in on the downed transport ship, the Strike slows down and picks up a signal in his radar, it was a mobile suit. "Commander Marida, unknown mobile suit closing in."

"Understood, keep an eye out, if it's hostile, take it out."

"R-right." Kira replies, he was a bit taken aback at her cold demeanor when it came to taking care of hostile units. He still did not like the idea of taking someone's life. He continues to monitor the mobile suit in the radar.

Marida examines the damage to the ship and makes an analysis. "Archangel, the signal did not originate from the ship, and it appears a single life pod has been jettisoned. We're moving to the next coordinates. Kira continue monitoring as we head for the next coordinates."

Kira nods and follows the Kshtariya while monitoring the radar, noticing that the unknown mobile suit slowly closing in.

As they reach the coordinates, Marida spots the life pod, "Archangel, I've found the lifepod, I'm also detecting a single life sign."

"Understood, retrieve it but be careful, that mobile suit seems to be closing in and fast." Murrue replies.

The Kshatriya then proceeds to carefully grab the life pod as to not harm the occupant inside. Kira spots the unknown mobile suit, it was a ZAFT GINN, and it opened fire on the Strike. Kira then dodges the machine gun fire from the GINN's 76mm machine gun. Kira then unconsciously fired his beam rifle. Kira was shocked to see that beam impaled the GINN right where the cockpit was as it explodes.

Marida noticed it, "Hmm, he seems to have picked up the signal as well. It was unavoidable Kira, he probably thinks we attacked it. Things like this happen, so do not feel bad about it. It will only make you feel worse." She said as both mobile suits head back to the Archangel with the life pod.

* * *

**Jupiter**

**Side 3**

**Deikun City Spaceport**

"Finally, home at last." Banagher said as he floated on the viewing deck, watching the walls of the colony's spaceport slide by as his Musaka-class slowly moved towards its assigned dock.

Banagher couldn't wait to get home and see Mineva again, they had something planned today. He then noticed one of his fellow pilots approach him, "Hey Lieutenant! Me and a couple of guys are heading down to hang out for some down time, wanna come?"

Banagher shook his head, "No can do Ralph, I got something planned today."

"Alright, I'll see you later then." he waved him a goodbye as he floated back out.

* * *

"The Angrboda has docked?" Mineva asked from behind her desk. "I see… in that case, I need to get going."

"Go?" her secretary. Christina Pieta said in surprise. "Go where?"

"To Central Hospital; I knew the Angrboda would be arriving today, which is why I came here in civilian wear as opposed to my usual uniform." Which was true; Mineva wasn't wearing her usual military-style uniform, but a green and white blouse and skirt, white knee socks, and soft, black leather shoes. "Banagher will be meeting me there." She said, putting on a white cardigan."

"But your Highness…" Christina began to protest but Mineva cut her off.

"We took a great risk sending the Angrboda out on that mission; give the crew shore leave, and I want a condensed report regarding all our finding as soon as possible. And regarding that ZAFT prisoner, tell Colonel Handers that if his little project blows up in our faces, I'm going to have him shot."

"But your Highness…" Christina wailed, chasing after the Sovereign as she walked out of her office towards the elevator. "…at least tell me why you're going to the hospital."

"Just a check-up; I've been along for four month after all." Mineva said smiling as she places a hand on her belly, unconcerned by her secretary's worries.

"Along… four months… your Highness!" the secretary gasped out, aghast by the revelation. "But you're not married yet!"

Mineva rolled her eyes in response, and entered the elevator as the doors opened, "Big deal; my relationship with Banagher isn't even an open secret anymore, and we can get married once things settled down. Keep this a secret Christina, or I'll have your job."

* * *

Athrun Zala had a bad week, though to be honest, he wasn't even sure if it was a week as his captors used a different calendar. First, his friend and fellow pilot Rusty got killed. Then he discovered that Kira had never gone to PLANT as he had thought, but was on Heliopolis, and had gotten caught in the middle of the crossfire between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. And that was assuming he wasn't with the Alliance to begin with. Then to top it all off, he had been captured the Principality of Zeon.

That was quite perplexing to him; Zeon was officially neutral in the war, much like Orb, but was more sympathetic to the Alliance than to PLANT. It was absurd; Earth had launched nuclear missiles against PLANT, and even though ZAFT had triggered an energy crisis to cripple Earth's economy, it was still unthinkable that Zeon were slightly more supportive of Earth than to PLANT.

He had asked Commander Le Creuset of course; the man had explained that apparently the Principality believed that Humanity's destiny lay in space and that therefore should all leave Earth for Space, and as such they favoured the Alliance because they feared that in the worst case scenario the Coordinators would imprison the rest of humanity on Earth permanently. And that troubled Athrun, because while he and most others would never condone such a course of action, his father and many other Coordinators would probably be ready and willing to do such a thing, assuming they didn't just commit genocide against the people of Earth.

At the very least though, his captors treated him humanely, as his food was solid and wholesome – as to be expected from military rations – and was provided regularly along with clean drinking water. He was regularly escorted to the toilet, and upon extraction from the disabled Aegis, he had been given thorough medical check-up.

Once he had asked a friendlier guard why he had been captured; the guard had replied that they wanted to see what the new Alliance Gundams were capable of, and that his capture had just been coincidence, as any pilot would have done. The guard then assured him that he would be treated fairly, and then gave him his food.

Athrun sighed as he put the last of his food into his mouth. He had overheard the guards saying they would arriving in Side 3 shortly, so Athrun reasoned out that he would soon be transferred to a more secure facility, where he would probably be interrogated. Muttering about the unfairness of life, he wondered how we was going to get home. He was still wondering that when the drugs in his food finally took hold and he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes next, he was naked and bound on an operating table, while men wearing smocks and surgical gloves, masks, and goggles stood around him. He tried to think, but was unable to get past the fog clouding his mind.

"The subject has awakened; apply the anesthesia." The surgeon said, causing the nurse to pick up a mask and attach it to his face. After a few more moments, he began to black out, even as the surgeon picked up a gleaming scalpel…

* * *

One the moon, a pair of Zeon prospectors stood on a ridge and looked out ever the vast plain stretching out towards the lunar horizon. "Is this it?" one of them asked.

"That's right. This is it." The other replied.

"There's nothing here."

"Of course there's nothing here; Granada was never build in this world. But that's going to change, and soon."

"This is going to be prime estate, you realize? A lot of people are going to be queuing up to buy property here once the first stage of development is complete."

"Of course I know that! What do you take me for? I'm more concerned what the Senate and the Sovereign are planning. Something tells me that rebuilding Granada is simply part of a bigger plan."

"What's this? Are you saying that you've become a Newtype all of a sudden?"

"Of course not; I'm just… oh never mind. Let's go back to the outpost and report our findings."

"Yeah: the Granada plain is empty and ready for development. Nice and easy…"

"Winston, that attitude of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days, mark my words."

* * *

**Archangel**

**Over the ruins of Junius Seven**

In the hangar, the Kshatriya lowered the life pod onto the floor. One of the engineers begin to open the pod. As the pod opens out came a beautiful young woman around Kira's age with bright pink hair… pink.

She approached Kira hoping to thank them but then noticed their insignias on their shoulders, "Oh my! This clearly isn't a ZAFT ship isn't it?"

The others were surprised by her statement, leading to Lieutenant Natarle Badgiruel face palming.

A few minutes later Marida along with Mu, Murrue and Natarle were in a private quarter with the pink haired girl. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for retrieving the pod, my name is Lacus Clyne." The pink Haro on her hand began repeating her name, "and this is my friend Mr. Pink!"

"Haro! That's you too, haro haro."

"Boy oh boy." Mu then perked up, "Clyne did you say? You have the same surname as the member of PLANT's supreme council Chairman Siegel Clyne."

"Oh Siegel Clyne is my father! You don't happen to know him do you?" she asked innocently at Mu. Causing Mu to face palm and Murrue to sigh, they have the daughter of PLANT's Chairman on board.

Natarle then opens the door spotting a couple of crewmen along with Sai and Tolle eavesdropping. She scolds them and shoos them off.

Lacus spots Kira outside and waves at him, causing Kira to get nervous and walk away.

Murrue sighs once again, "What is someone like you doing way out here?"

Lacus then begins to tell them about inspecting Junius Seven for the 1 year memorial since its destruction. She tells them an Alliance ship halts them and requests to inspect them, to which Lacus had to agree as to avoid a conflict. The Alliance soldiers then accuse them of being military personnel disguised as a civilian ship. She then tells them her crewmen shoved her into a life pod and jettison her out into space, hoping for someone to find her.

Marida sighs, "That is a common sight in war, both warring sides tend to get paranoid, while a lot of them just want to let off some steam in their own way."

Murrue gasps, "That's just terrible."

"And then? What happened to your vessel?" Mu asked bluntly.

Lacus sadly looksdown, "I don't know. I hope the crew is alright, I hope they somehow resolved the issue diplomatically and no one got hurt."

* * *

In the Archangel's mess hall, Flay Allster was having an argument with Miriallia, "No way! I am not giving food to a coordinator! They have better reflexes and are stronger than us, what if I get attacked?"

"Flay Allster!" Miriallia scolds her.

"She's a coordinator, what if she has super strength?" Flay continues to argue.

"My! What is this about someone being super strong?" Lacus walks in being escorted by Marida along with on the floor. Causing the others to gasp in surprise at her arrival.

"Haro! I'm fine and so are you!" Mr. Pink said while flapping his round wings.

Lacus became a bit worried at the scene, "Oh my, I apologize if I caused a commotion. I was just thirsty that's all. I'm feeling really hungry as well." She then makes her way to the food with Marida following her. "Would this be considered the dining room? I'd be very grateful for a bite to eat."

Kira tries to interrupt her, "Hey hold on a minute!"

One of his friends adds, "Why didn't they lock her room?"

"This is nuts! Who would let someone from ZAFT wonder around on her own?" Flays asked with bitterness in her voice.

"I did, Zeon now has jurisdiction over her as a guest." Marida replies with firmness in her voice. "Please Miss Clyne, you may go ahead and get your food."

"Oh thank you Miss Marida, but please just Lacus is fine." Lacus smiles at the Zeon officer.

Flay gasps, "What!? Why would you allow something like that? She's a coordinator!"

Marida furrows her brows, "The Principality has nothing against Coordinators in general, just ZAFT for our little skirmishes that goes on from time to time and some of their leadership, Siegel Clyne her father has been trying to lessen the tensions between our governments. But the PLANT Supreme Council keeps overruling him."

Kira and Lacus were surprised at this revelation, with the pink head smiling again, "Oh wow! Zeon must be filled with nice people if they don't hate Coordinators!" she then approaches Flay, "Hi there! My name is-"

"No stop it!" Flay interrupts her, "You must be nuts, I don't want any Coordinators being friendly with me!"

*Slap*

Everyone freezes when Marida slaps Flay, "Miss Allster, your behaviour is unacceptable and intolerable, and discrimination is one of the many things Zeon frowns upon. And with that statement of yours, I must assume you are a member of Blue Cosmos." Marida then turns to Kira as she leaves the mess hall, "Ensign, please escort Lacus back to her room with her food."

Flay was seething that a Natural was defending a coordinator, it was absurd. Kira then grabs the tray of food and leads Lacus back to her room.

As they enter her room Lacus sighs in disappointment, "Do I have to stay in this room again?"

Kira gives her a smile, "Yes, this is an Earth Forces vessel after all. There are many people in this ship who don't put Coordinators in high regard. To simply put, they are enemies."

"That's a shame don't you think? But so far you've been very kind to me, along with Miss Marida. I'm grateful."

"I uh… you see I happen to be a Coordinator." Kira confesses with a shameful look on his face.

Lacus continues to smile at him with the pink Haro making a shout out, "Yeah you too!"

"If you don't mind would you tell me your name?" Lacus asked with innocence in her voice.

Kira blushes, "Uh… it's Kira, Kira Yamato."

"Well then, thank you very much Kira Yamato!"

* * *

**Archangel's Bridge**

"So you're telling me that Zeon is making covert sabotages on ZAFT's forces on Earth?"

Suberoa nods through the Archangels view screen, "Her Highness fears that ZAFT would want to imprison the rest of humanity on Earth. You see we believe that humanity's destiny lies in space. And ZAFT wants to trap Earth."

Murrue sighs, "This war is getting even more complicated by the minute."

Suberoa chuckles, "We are just trying to make their attack on Victoria as bloody as possible, for ZAFT of course, while minimizing Alliance's casualties. So about that Lacus girl, we would like to return her to ZAFT, as to not escalate anything, she is practically a figurehead in PLANT."

Natarle interjects, "What!? But she can be useful to the Alliance!"

"For what? ZAFT will do anything to get her back, and since ZEON isn't technically at war with PLANT, this will hopefully lessen tensions." Suberoa argues with his eyes narrowed at the Lieutenant.

"He is right Natarle; Lacus Clyne is the Chairman's daughter, not to mention she practically represents the face of PLANT. If ZAFT finds out the Alliance has her captive, this war could get even bloodier." Mu said with an agreement to Suberoa. "Besides, we have Zeon covertly backing us."

A few hours later, Lacus along with Kira were at the hangar, Kira was devastated to hear that Athrun was MIA. Lacus told him that he declared MIA not too long ago. Lacus was happy at least to have found out that Kira was Athrun's best friend.

A Geara Zulu was in the Archangel to take Lacus to a nearby ZAFT fleet. Lacus then gave Kira a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you Kira, I'm glad I met you." She then floats to the Zeon mobile suit, leaving Kira blushing with a surprised look on his face.

Marida floats up into the cockpit, "Remember Gilboa, get her to ZAFT quickly and then get out of there, we may not be at war with ZAFT officially, but they're still hostile."

Gilboa nods, "Alright then Miss Clyne, just sit tight and relax, and we will be there shortly." With that, everyone cleared the hangar as the Geara Zulu launches, taking Lacus back to PLANT.

Gilboa grins, "You seem to like that Kira guy."

Lacus blushes but smiles nonetheless, "Oh, well perhaps I do."

* * *

**Deikun City Military Hospital**

A young man with navy-blue hair and green eyes awoke in his hospital bed squinting at the light pouring in through his window. As he sat up, he winced, and clutched his chest in pain.

"Oh good, you're awake." A doctor said, coming into his room, "I didn't expect you to wake so soon, warrant officer. How do you feel?"

"My body hurts all over." He replied and the doctor nodded.

"That's an uncommon but not unknown symptom of cryogenic stasis. As is a certain degree of memory loss; do you know who you are?"

The young man frowned as he realized he didn't know who he was, or why he was even there. It was a profoundly empty moment, and for a moment he teetered on the brink of insanity… but finally he sighed and looked sharply at the doctor. "No…" he replied, "…but I suppose you can tell me?"

"Correct…" the doctor said, nodding. "…Warrant Officer Murasame Seven. I hate to remind you of your past, but you're a – and I apologize for any offense caused – an experimental Cyber-Newtype from the Earth Federation's Murasame Institute in Japan. You were captured, or rather, freed from captivity during the First Neo Zeon War, and joined our forces in gratitude. However, the strain from all the experiments took their toll, and as such you were placed in cryogenic stasis until a medical solution could be found."

"And that is why I'm here now…" Murasame said, nodding as he did so. It fit, and his mind rejoiced in finally remembering who he was. Of course, not all of his memories would ever return, but he didn't care; as far as he was concerned, the past was unimportant, and he would simply start over from her and now. As he was pondering, a nurse came with a folded Zeon uniform and a pair of boots and placed them on the bed, before whispering something to the doctor and leaving.

"That's your uniform warrant officer, and someone should come along after a while to escort you to your assigned post." The doctor told him before leaving as well. Wincing at the pain, Murasame stood up and after closing the door, he took off his smock and began putting on the Zeon uniform. He was putting on his boots when the door opened and a cheerful young woman with orange hair strolled into the room, her cape flowing around her.

"Hello there, warrant officer. I'm Sub-Lieutenant Elpeo Puru the Third, and I'm going to be flying with you on the battlefield." She happily introduced herself with a mock salute. "Anyway, it's nice to meet another Cyber-Newtype, the only ones I know right now are my sisters Elpeo Puru 2 and 12, so let's try and get along shall we?"

* * *

**NA: HAHAHAHAHA! That felt good making Marida slap Flay like that. And Lacus has finally made appearance and kissed Kira on the cheek already! WEEEEEEEE!**

**Writing Mr. Pink in this chapter was fun, everyone loves Haros to begin with anyway.**

**I will make you guys figure out who Murasame is, and yes he is now a Cyber-Newtype. Yes Puru 2 is alive, and Puru 12 who was originally Marida in series in a separate entity now.**

**Mineva is pregnant!**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	14. Developments and Kushina's Decision

**NA: And on to the next chapter! I am really having fun with you guys! 40+ reviews! I LOVE YOU GUYS! *Sniff***

* * *

**-Story Start-**

**Side 3**

**Deikun City Military Base **

**MS Hangars**

"So, what should I call you?" Warrant Officer Murasame asked Ple Three as they rode a jeep across the military base.

"Hmm…" Puru Three thought for a moment, largely focused on driving the jeep. It wasn't like she a reckless driver, but her driving could be described as… interesting, even if she hadn't run over someone or wrecked something. "…Lieutenant will do while we're on duty. Puru or Elpeo will do when we're off-duty, or when you need to catch my attention. Don't call me by my number though; only my sisters call me that."

"Alright…" Murasame nodded, before continuing. "…I'm guessing that you're the third in a series of Cyber-Newtypes?"

"Close, but incorrect. Actually I'm the third clone of Elpeo Puru. Who wasn't a Cyber-Newtype by the way; from what I know she was a powerful Newtype. My sisters are numbers two and twelve. There were originally eleven clones, numbered two to twelve, but apart from myself, number two and twelve, I'm not sure if any of my sisters are alive."

"You're surprisingly accepting about all of this." Murasame noted.

"Well, it's not like getting angry about this will solve anything." Puru Three said, as she drove the jeep sharply around the corner and causing a group of soldiers to jump out of the way. "I could say the same about you. You're quite calm about your situation, and your file even says you don't remember your past."

"True…" Murasame conceded with a shrug, "…But the past is just that: the past. Nothing we do will ever change it. All we can do is to keep on living and hope to atone for our past mistakes in the future."

"My thoughts exactly…" Puru Three replied as she braked suddenly and miraculously ended up parking the jeep perfectly in front of an MS hangar.

"Is there any particular reason your sisters aren't here with us?" Murasame asked, getting out of the jeep following Puru Three towards the entrance.

"They have different assignments; well Puru Two is a commander of a Rewloola-class called the Jade Lancer, Puru Twelve who is also a Sub-Lieutenant like me is assigned to the _Garencieres_ Special Forces cruiser." She replied.

Murasame nodded, "I see."

"Lieutenant Fran!" Puru Three called out, causing a silver-haired woman to look up from across the hangar and the tech crews to look at Puru and Murasame.

Noticing the two of them approach, Sophie Fran walked to meet them after picking up a folder and giving a few words to a technician. "Oh good, you must be Warrant Officer Murasame Seven Correct?" she said as she met with the two. "I am Lieutenant Sophie Fran and I will be serving as your commanding officer."

"Warrant Officer Murasame Seven, reporting." Murasame said, giving a salute which Sophie acknowledge and nod.

"According to your data, you reacted unexpectedly with the enhancement procedures at the Murasame Institute; as such, while you did develop Newtype abilities, your body is much stronger and faster than a normal Human's, so much so that you could also be classified as an Augmented Human and a Cyber-Newtype."

"I see…" Murasame said, unsure about what she was saying.

Sophie nodded before continuing. "This means I can assign you with a psycommu-equipped unit, your abilities would be wasted on a Geara Zulu. As such, you'll be piloting something else."

At that she turned to her right, and following her line of sight, Puru Three whistled and laughed as she saw a Green mobile suit with gold and black on its chest and arms, "Well now, here's a blast from the past, that's an AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra. One of the fastest mobile suits ever developed. And this one seems have been modernized using today's armor and equipped with a Psycoframe cockpit."

"It's also one of the hardest to pilot…" Sophie said seriously. "…seeing as the intense G-Forces of its enhanced speed ensures that only the strongest Humans can endure the strain of piloting the unit."

"It sounds perfect for me then." Murasame said with a faint smile, to which Puru Three eagerly nodded her agreement. "What you Puru? What's your unit?"

In response, she pointed to the opposite side of the hangar where a white and violet mobile suit with a faintly insect-like appearance was standing. "AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Type, similar to what old lady Haman used to pilot, but improved."

"And before you ask…" Sophie said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "…my unit is over there in the back, it's just a Geara Zulu armed with Beam Gatling. Murasame you can see that your Gerbera Tetra is armed with a High Beam Rifle (The Sinanju Stein's Beam Rifle). Now then, Puru I'll leave him to you. I have other matters to attend to."

"What… hey wait; what do you mean you have other matters to attend to?"

"The Keraunos returned last night; all squad leaders are getting a briefing over their mission in the next few days." After saying that, she waved a hand, and left the hangar.

Muttering her curses under her breath, Puru Three walked towards the Sinanju followed by Murasame, who asked, "What's the Keraunos?"

"It's a refitted Special Forces Zanzibar-class Mobile Assault Cruiser." She replied as they approached the unit. "Officially it was testing out its systems in the Debris Belt, but rumour has it that it was sent to Earth."

"Why?"

"How would I know?"

"You're a Cyber-Newtype."

"Indeed…" Puru Three replied, smiling happily. "…apparently they've been causing all sorts of shit across ZAFT territory in Africa, and are indirectly responsible for the bloodbath that was the ZAFT assault on the Victoria spaceport. ZAFT won the battle, but it was a pyrrhic victory, and ZAFT only has a tenuous hold on the spaceport."

"How'd they pull that off?" Murasame asked as he dropped down into the cockpit and began a series of standard system diagnostics.

"A series of hit-and run raids disrupted ZAFT communications across the entire region, and by cutting key supply lines at appropriate times, they not only delayed the ZAFT assault but caused a certain degree of mismanagement and confusion on the ground. If not for the ZAFT drop assault from orbit, the Alliance might have actually wiped out the ground assault and won the battle."

"Ever imagine what it'd be like if we were there?" Murasame asked with a feral smile as the diagnostics finished and he prepared the simulator programs.

Puru Three's smile was just as bloodthirsty as her partner's. "Isn't it obvious? ZAFT would listen and dance to my melody of death."

"My thoughts exactly…"

* * *

**Earth **

**ZAFT Base in Gibraltar**

A few days later, three ZAFT pilots wearing the red uniforms of elite mobile suit pilots were walking down a corridor leading to Rau's office in ZAFT's Gibraltar base on Earth.

"Ah, it's good to see you again you three." ZAFT Commander Rae Le Creuset greeted the three of them as they entered his office, inwardly puzzled by Yzak's somewhat taciturn appearance. The young man seemed to have changed somewhat, and while he kept the scar from his little brush with death against the Strike, he seemed calmer and less angry than before.

"I'm here to inform you that despite our bloody losses in South Africa, plans for Operation Spitbreak will continue to be developed with appropriate adjustments." He told them, pushing his concerns for Yzak to the back of his mind. "However, since I'll be busy directing preparations for the for the operation, I will be unable to oversee the pursuit of the legged ship… Yzak, are you listening?"

Startled, Yzak quickly gathered himself and bowed in apology. "Please accept my apologies, but I was distracted by that photo on your desk."

"Oh I see…" Rau said, looking at the photo on his desk. "…it was my fault then. Well, since you've already seen it, and it's not really a secret to begin with, I might as well tell you what it is. This is a photo taken by an unmanned reconnaissance probe sent into Side 3 in Jupiter, and the only legible one of any use it took. Though to be honest, we're not really sure it is either."

"It looks like some kind of ship with huge cargo space with cranes and drills to me…" Dearka said dismissively.

Yzak however, looked closer at the picture. Finally, he asked, "What are the chances that Zeon has very dense but lightweight alloys on their ships and possibly their mobile suits?"

Rau raised an eyebrow in response; that was a question he had not expected from Yzak. Finally, he answered, "Quite high, seeing as their tech base is very different from ours."

"Then if I'm right, those are asteroid mining ships." Yzak reasoned out. "The Principality has a large store of ore with the few asteroids they have in Jupiter, but it won't last forever, seeing that they control the Hydrogen fuel thanks to Jupiter, they probably want to secure the next best thing, a supply line to largest store of free ore and minerals in the Solar System."

"The Asteroid Belt…" Nicole whispered, making the connection even as Dearka's eyes widened in surprise and Rau laughed heartily.

"Mineva Lao Zabi…" he said, calming down. "…that woman undoubtedly deserves her throne. She may be sympathetic to Earth, but all the same she doesn't intend to become dependent on them. Well, we'll worry about her when the time comes; for now, there doesn't seem to be any danger of military technology changing hands between the Alliance and the Principality." Once again regarding Yzak, he made a decision. The boy hand changed somewhat, and in ways he had never predicted and still couldn't measure completely, and could possibly be a threat to his plans in the future, but for now he would be quite useful. "More importantly, regarding the pursuit of the legged, as I will be unable oversee it, Yzak you will be in command."

"Congratulations Yzak!" Nicole quickly congratulated his friend, while a smirking Dearka gave him congratulatory pat on the back. The young man in question however, just gave a silent salute in response.

* * *

**Jupiter**

**Side 3 **

**Deikun City**

Banagher quickly grew concerned at the violin music that echoed across Mineva's house as he opened and closed the door, as it usually meant she was concerned about something, and she needed to calm herself and her thoughts down. Making his way to the second floor, he found her standing on a balcony with her eyes closed as she played a soft and calming song with her violin.

"Audrey?" he said, causing her stop playing abruptly and to open her eyes and to look at him in surprise. He was the only person now who called her that, and the only one who was allowed to get away with it. "Is something wrong?"

"…yeah. There is…" she said, sighing as she sat down and put her violin down on a nearby table, her pregnancy becoming more obvious with her swollen belly. "According to our political analysts, that madman Patrick Zala is all but guaranteed to win in the next elections for the chairmanship of the PLANT Supreme Council."

"What did you see?" Banagher asked, worry obvious on his face; both he and Mineva were powerful Newtypes, and he knew she had something.

"I saw the Earth… it was dead." She whispered; her eyes hollow and her face contorted with horror. "The entire planet was burning… somehow I knew that this would be Earth's fate if Patrick Zala would get his way."

"But if we join the Earth Alliance, then Blue Cosmos…" Banagher said, but broke off as Mineva looked at him.

"I know, but what are the lives of a few hundred million people in PLANT against the billions on Earth?" It's a sadistic choice… but no. Zeon will not join the Alliance; there has to be another way… there just has to be…"

"Audrey… it's going to be alright. I'm sure we'll figure something out. We've done it before." He assured her with a smile while mentally reminding her of Laplace's Box and embracing her from behind, causing her to smile and hope to reappear in her eyes. "You are not alone. Everyone in Zeon with you, and we have Char with us. Seriously, between the Zabi Dynasty and Zeon Zum Deikun's son, is there anything we can't do?"

"I suppose not." She answered, looking fondly over her shoulder at Banagher.

Yzak's transport had left Gibraltar long after Dearka and Nicol had left. Normally, Yzak would have been very irritated at the delay, but after his many brushes with death – he had the scar to prove it – and the loss of so many friends – Rusty, Athrun, Miguel – he began to find himself calmer and less angry about life. He began to question his own and his mother's Coordinator-supremacist views, something he had never done before. All this was a profoundly confusing moment, and one he intended to silently brood on en route to Carpenteria.

Cagalli, for her part, was increasingly concerned as her damaged Sky Grasper began to run low on fuel and she could still find no sign of the Archangel. Her worrying was cut when her IFF transponder begain to register an unfriendly unit nearby… which was quickly revealed to be a ZAFT transport plane. Quickly manoeuvering her plane as to avoid collision, she launched an attack while the transport attempted to defend itself.

Aboard the transport, an irritated Yzak rushed into the cockpit to demand an explanation. "What the hell was that?"

"We're under attack!" one of the pilots told him, even as an explosion rocked the plane.

"That can't be right… we're over the Equatorial Union, and they're neutral…" Yzak began to say when the same pilot from before interrupted him.

"Hurry and get to your unit! We don't have any sub-flight lifters for your unit to fight in the air, and we don't have any DINNs either to counter-attack with! However, we did manage to get a signal off. Hurry; if you go down with the plane, then your loss will be a stain on the honour of the supply corps!"

Cursing, Yzak rushed towards the hangar, but respected the pilots' determination and courage under fire. Within minutes, Yzak was in his unit's cockpit, and after several moments had activated his unit and jumped off of the plane, and was free-falling down to the ocean below. He didn't see the plane's fate, but he did catch sight of a small island nearby, and used his engines to guide and low the Duel's descent towards that island. Landing on the coast he ran a quick check through all the frequencies, and while he was disappointed by the lack of contact from all ZAFT channels, he was satisfied with the lack of all hostile IFFs nonetheless.

Locking down his unit, he armed himself and set out to explore the island. Which wasn't much; it barely took a few minutes to traverse it from coast to coast. He was just going to head back when heard a twig snap behind him. Whirling he caught sight of a wet and surprised blonde boy… holding a gun and wearing a utility vest. Cursing, said boy fired off a shot, which Yzak dodged with ease, but he slipped and lost his gun in the process. Unwilling to confront an armed opponent on their terms, he managed to jump away and hid himself among the rocks as the boy ran forward to pick up his gun.

Growling, he felt the familiar anger rise deep inside him and smiled. It felt good to be back to being his usual irritable self.

* * *

**Somewhere over the Pacific**

**Archangel's Bridge**

"Cagalli's missing?" Kira asked, shocked that they lost contact with his friend.

Marida nodded, "Yes, we lost contact with her Skygrasper here, among these islands. Captain Ramius has agreed to send a search party, I volunteered to lead the search, you are welcome to come if you wish…"

"Puru puru puru puru puru! Can I come!? Can I, can I!?" a bright energetic orange-haired girl suddenly bursts into the Archangel's Bridge. "I'm so bored with no one to pay with!" her name is Elpeo Puru Twelve, out of the three surviving Puru clones, Puru Twelve was the only one who still looked at like a 10 year old, they found her in cryo stasis a seven months ago, and since then she was allowed to rejoin the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps, along with her Qubeley.

The only problem was she had the exact same personality and energy of the original Elpeo Puru. Which can be quite a handful, "C'mon! Let's go! Puru puru puru puru puru!" muttering the iconic Puru as she runs out of the bridge.

Murrue was taken aback by her energy, "She has quite the energy, are you sure about letting a child pilot a mobile suit?"

Marida pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance before replying, "Don't be fooled by her appearance, she is one hell of a pilot, and an absolute monster in the battlefield along with her two other sisters. She is a clone of the original Elpeo Puru, and sadly she inherited the original's personality and her massive energy."

Mu La Flaga was shocked, "She's a clone!? And a successful clone at that!?"

"Yes, she was created during the Second Neo Zeon war by the Axis forces, Elpeo Puru was such powerful Newtype, and they didn't want it to go to waste. I thank you once again for not revealing what we Newtypes are, considering Mu here is one as well."

Murrue nodded, "Of course, if Blue Cosmos found out about the Newtypes, there's no telling what they would do. I still can't believe she's a clone." she said as she looks at the door where Puru 12 ran through.

"Our terms for them would be Cyber-Newtypes, they would be the equivalent to your universe's Coordinators, it's why we don't discriminate against Coordinators to begin with. Although few in numbers, they are all in Zeon's military."

Murrue and the bridge crew were surprised at this revelation, Cyber-Newtypes that are similar to Coordinators in a way.

Mu sighed, "Well, at least she is okay with piloting a mobile suit, despite the fact she treats it like a toy."

"Indeed." Marida smiled and turned to the female captain "Captain Ramius expect a Zeon transport arriving within a few hours; it will be sending in my new mobile suit."

"New mobile suit? What about your current one?" Murrue asked curiously.

"Puru 12 now operates it, I decided to get myself a new mobile suit as I will be partnering with one of our new pilots arriving in a few days." Marida said a she smiles, actually excited about this new pilot coming.

"New pilot eh? Wonder what new guy is going to be like." Mu said with a bit of curiosity, wondering about the coming pilot.

* * *

**Archangel's Civilian Quarters**

Flay Allster was putting on some make up as usual, Miriallia was a bit confused at this, "You know we're in a warship, I don't see the need to use make-up in a warship."

"You just don't understand the need for it." Flay argued, she was still sad that her father was killed during a ZAFT attack, she tried to manipulate Kira into avenging her father for her, but thanks to Marida, that didn't happen. As she fixes her eye lashes an orange-haired girl grabbed her stuff, "Hey! Those are not toys!"

"What are you putting on your face puru?" the girl asked, gaining an irritated look from Flay.

"These are make-up! They are for us girls to look pretty."

"Puru? But you're ugly puru puru." At that she caused Miriallia to roll on the floor stifling a laugh, and causing Flay to become red with anger.

"Well she's certainly interesting isn't she Flay?" Miriallia said, trying to calm down from her laughter.

"BOTH OF YOU! GET OUT!" Flay screams throwing a pillow at them.

"Puru puru puru puru puru!" The orange-haired girl and Miriallia quickly ran out of the room, dodging a pillow being thrown at them. Miriallia just laughs as she follows the strange but entertaining girl.

"Hey wait up! I didn't get your name! And you're headed for the hangar, that place is not for children!"

"Puru? But my mobile suit is in there puru puru. And my name is Puru! Elpeo Puru Twelve!"

Miriallia paused for a second, "Your Mobile Suit? But you're just a kid, and what's with the number on your name? Hey… wait up!" rushing off to try and catch the unreasonably highly energetic orange-haired girl.

"Puru puru puru puru puru puru!"

They reach the hangar and Puru 12 shows Miriallia her mobile suit. "See? That's my unit!" pointing to the Kshatriya.

Miriallia was confused, "Um Puru, that suit belongs to Commander Marida."

"Nope, not anymore! Big Sister Marida gave it to me, she's getting a new mobile suit that's arriving in a few hours, I hear it's really cool puru!" Puru 12 said, her face giving out a wide grin.

Miriallia didn't say anything, she found it hard to believe this little girl is a mobile suit pilot for Zeon. And it seems Marida is getting a new unit. She wondered what this new mobile suit is going to be.

* * *

**Side 3 Deikun City Military Base**

**MS Hangar 5**

Kushina was walking down the hangar wearing a Zeon uniform similar to her daughter's. She had just completed her examinations, because she had been exposed to her daughter's Newtype powers constantly, she had developed hers at an almost miraculous rate. She decided she wanted to do her part and joined the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps.

She had already prior military experience back in Pandora thanks to being a Shinobi, so she challenged the Military Academy's officer exams. Her results were astounding, in terms of military tactics she was above average, it was her skills with a sword and piloting in the simulator programs that caught the eye of the Zeon Military Higher-Ups, what even shocked them was that she was actually 40+ years old, but looked like she was only 20-24. It was thanks to Uzumaki blood, they were known to age slower than normal and live long lives.

So here she was, a Newtype thanks to her daughter and a Lieutenant in the Zeon Mobile Suit Corps, the triplets of course were well cared for. Mineva surprisingly offered to watch over them, saying that it will help her once she gives birth.

"Lieutenant Kushina Cruz, reporting." Kushina said with a salute to an officer in the hangar. Over the six months she has lived with her daughter, she filed a divorce with Minato as she just could not forgive him, dropping the Namikaze name and the Uzumaki and adopted her daughter's surname instead.

The officer smiled, "Ah Lieutenant, hoping to join your daughter soon? Do not worry; her Highness has assigned you to the _Garancieres_ down in earth, you will just have to meet up with them. Are you up to the task?"

"Yes sir." Kushina nodded with a smile while keeping herself straight and formal. She will have to remember to thank Mineva once more for assigning her to be with her daughter.

"Very good, this is your machine." The captain pointed to the green mobile suit, with silver and black on its chest and arms. It was the MSN-06S Sinanju, coloured green instead of the iconic 'Red Comet' colors. "This one we had been able to put into limited production thanks to salvaged Sinanju from the Laplace conflict, it has the same armaments as the original Sinanju. It is designed for high mobility that can match the speed of the Unicorn's and the Kshatriya. You will be launched from the Mass Driver headed for earth. You will be rendezvousing with your daughter in the pacific; I hear she is getting a new mobile suit in a couple of hours. Good luck Lieutenant and godspeed."

With that the officer left, leaving a grinning Kushina. She had been given an extremely high performance mobile suit, the Sinanju was armed with a High Beam Rifle, its Beam Axes attached to its shield, standard beam sabers that can be used as tonfas, and standard 60mm Vulcans mounted on its head. And it seems her daughter is getting a new mobile suit as well.

After a few hours of preparation, she was wearing a suit similar to Marida's, sitting in the cockpit of her brand new machine, preparing for launch on the Mass Driver's catapult.

"Mass driver all set… magnetic rails green… catapult is a go, Lieutenant Kushina Cruz, you are clear for launch." The control tower announces to her.

Placing on her helmet she announces, "Roger, Kushina Cruz, Sinanju, launch!" she braced as the massive g-force from the mass driver's catapult launches her with massive force straight for Earth, or more correctly, Orb, where she will be meeting up with the _Garencieres_.

_'Look out Marida, I'm coming!'_

* * *

**NA: So instead of Athrun meeting Cagalli on the island, it's going to be Yzak. I'm still debating if I should pair them up, since in Destiny there was a girl under his command named Shiho who was interested in him.**

**Puru Twelve finally makes an appearance, and makes fun of Flay. The Archangel just got a whole lot more interesting with her around. As for her outfit: she wears the exact same out the original Elpeo Puru wears. She is still in a 10-11 year old body because they found her in cryo stasis. As for her personality… well you know. As for her Mobile Suit, Marida passed down the Kshatriya to her. She is getting a new unit next chapter. Marida and Puru 12 share a sibling like relationship, despite being a handful at times.**

**Puru puru puru puru puru!**

**If you don't know who Sophie is, she is a character from Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front, love that game.**

**Yes they did make Murasame/Athrun a Cyber-Newtype and gave him a Gerbera Tetra equipped with a Pyscoframe Cockpit and replaced its armor with the current one. As for its weapons, it still has the same beam sabers and beam machine gun, just modernized.**

**Kushina finally got her mobile suit, and it's a Sinanju colored in standard Zeon green instead of red. She is the new pilot Marida was talking about. And she has been assigned to ****_Garencieres_****; she is going to make a huge shocker to the people of the Archangel and Orb with a mobile suit with such high speed, then again they haven't even seen the Kshatriya as well.**

**Mineva is babysitting Mika Rika and Nika, claiming it will help her once her child gives birth.**

**As for why the Kshatriya is fast, you can thank its crap ton of thrusters mounted on its four binders.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	15. The Emerald Demons

**NA: I am really enjoying this fanfic, time for Marida's new unit to be revealed!**

* * *

**-Story Start-**

**Archangel**

**Pacific Islands**

Marida was standing on the Archangel's deck waiting for her new unit to arrive, "It should be here any minute."

"How do you know that? I don't see anything." Murrue asked while tilting her head in confusion.

Marida turns to the older woman, "The ship is being dropped by orbit, it will also be retrieving Puru 12's old unit." she looked up at the sky, "And here it is now."

Everyone looked up as they spot an oddly shaped ship coming down, Kira gazed at the ship, it seems to be only able to carry one mobile suit with its size, small enough for it to be unseen. As the ship nears, Marida heads down to the beach where the ship touched down.

Mu whistles, "Zeon really knows how to arrive in style. I'm almost jealous." Murrue slaps his arm playfully, a bit annoyed by his antics.

The ship's pilot gives Marida salute as she outranks him, "Your new unit ma'am, we're here to pick up the Qubeley as well."

Marida nods "Open the hatch."

The transport ship opens its hatch revealing a green mobile suit with silver and black on its chest and arms, it has six thrusters on its back with 3 more on each of its legs. It was MSN-06SF Sinanju armed with funnels on its back and shoulders.

The crew of the Archangel marvel at the beauty of the mobile suit, it looked like it was built to perfection, and its firepower seems to be even more powerful than any of the G-Weapons built. Kira stares at the mobile suit with awe; it was smaller than the Kshatriya but seems to be more advanced.

Suberoa walks up to the crew of the Archangel, "Ah yes, the MSN-06SF Sinanju, the F stands for Funnels as it is equipped with at least 12 of them, like the Kshatriya, but lesser in numbers as it can only hold so much. What this machine is known for is its speed and firepower. In terms of combat capabilites, it can take on an entire fleet on its own."

Murrue and her crew turned to the Zeon Captain wide eyed, "An entire fleet!?"

Suberoa nodded, "The Sinanju is armed with a High Beam Rifle for long range capabilities without sacrificing power, along with an underslung grenade launcher and its funnels, it's a single mobile suit army. So far though we were only able to make two of these, as only the best can actually pilot these."

Murrue gulped, she became worried that not even the Gundams can take it on. Suberoa then barked out orders to Marida, "Marida, get the unit moving! We still need to load the Qubeley!"

"Yes sir." She quickly went into her Sinanju's cockpit; it wasn't that different than the Kshatriya's as it uses the same Psycoframe cockpit for all Newtype mobile suits of Zeon. As the green mono-eyed Sinanju comes to life, it stands up and walks away from the ship as the Qubeley is loaded onto the ship.

Puru 12 waves goodbye to her old unit, "Bye-bye Qubeley! It's been fun puru puru!"

Mu chuckles at the girl, "Well I better get going, it's best if I got going to search for Cagalli, Kira you're with me.." With that he waved at them and went to his Skygrasper and took off in search of the Orb Princess.

Kira and his friends just continued to stare at the Sinanju, it was a sight to behold, Miriallia was just awestruck, "It's beautiful, for such a beautiful machine to be so deadly. I wonder if it can take on a Gundam."

Gilboa who was there as well chuckled, "Oh it can, the original Sinanju back then took on a Gundam, and won. Though he didn't destroy the Gundam, he just captured it."

Kira looked at the man wide eyed. It was frightening that Zeon can produce such weapons and not be bothered by it before he went down to the hangar and launched with the Strike following Mu.

* * *

**Unknown Island in the Pacific**

The blonde boy leapt nimbly down the hill towards the gun the ZAFT pilot had dropped, cautiously knelt down, and slowly picked it up. At the same time, Yzak cautiously peered around the boulder he was hiding behind and carefully watched his opponent make his move. The moment his attention was diverted, Yzak moved quickly and jumped over the rocks and up the hillside and into the shadows under the trees. The boy managed to fire off a couple of shots, but they all went wild, causing Yzak to smile as he drew his combat knife and prepared to turn the tables on his adversary.

Double-checking her weapons, Cagalli ran after the ZAFT pilot, but stopped short before entering the treeline. The ZAFT pilot was probably hiding somewhere in there, and she wasn't keen on facing down a Coordinator on her own. She was still thinking that when the silver-haired pilot jumped down from a branch overhead; dropping down onto a crouch behind her, he swept out her legs from under her causing her to tumble to the ground with an uncharacteristic yelp.

Yzak had to give credit, even knocked to the ground the boy refused to give up and aiming a gun at him with speed born of desperation. But while it was impressive, it wasn't enough against a trained Coordinator, as Yzak quickly kicked the gun out of the boy's hand before he dove down and drove an elbow into the boy's gut, pinning him to ground. Almost simultaneously, he raised his other hand and moved to deliver the killing blow… only for the 'boy' to scream with an unmistakably feminine voice, shutting down Yzak's battle fury and replacing it with shock and surprise.

Regarding his gasping opponent closely, he finally noticed her all but unnoticeable bust through the unflattering utility vest she wore.

"Enough already!" she screamed at him.

"Y-you're a girl?" he asked in response, causing the girl to bristle.

"Of course I am! What did you think I was all this time?" she replied, outraged by the insinuation. Yzak raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by her bluster but impressed by the fact that she could feel more than fear in this situation. Making up his mind, he quickly turned her over ignoring her protests and threats against any 'inappropriate' behaviour – as if he would ever allow himself to sink that low – he tied her wrists and ankles securely.

Picking up her weapons he holstered his own gun after checking it over, after which he walked over to a cliff well out of sight, where he threw her gun away in to the sea. After taking a moment to calm down, he walked back to where the girl was and found her trying to follow him by crawling on the ground like a worm.

"That is absolutely undignified, do you know that?" he calmly observed, crossing his arms and adopting a disapproving expression.

"Only because you tied me up like this!" she raged, causing Yzak to roll his eyes.

"You know, if you actually looked and acted feminine, people wouldn't mistake you for a boy. Somehow I'm sure I'm not the first person to make a mistake regarding your gender." He observed, smiling as he protested angrily. As he watched her splutter out protests and threats, he made a decision. She wasn't an real threat to him anyway; he was no longer discriminatory against Naturals due to his losses, he still preferred to fight with honour and refused to kill helpless opponents.

Wincing inwardly as he remembered the shuttle he had shot down during the battle against the Alliance Eighth Fleet – he was never going to forgive himself for losing in the heat of the moment and to his rapidly-cooling desire for vengeance against the Strike and its pilot – he made a decision. Drawing his knife, he knelt down and cut the girl free. Ignoring her expression and puzzlement and surprise, he began to walk to his unit.

"Hey wait, why…?" she began to ask as she scrambled to her feet before Yzak interrupted her.

"There's no point in keeping you tied up, and I have more important matters to attend to. Do what you want so long as you don't get in my way."

* * *

**Carpentaria**

"What do you mean we've lost Yzak's transport?" Dearka angrily argued with a deck officer in ZAFT's Carpentaria Base.

"Precisely what I said." The officer responded, unimpressed by the pilot's bluster. They were fighting a war after all, and losses like this were fully expected. "We briefly detected a distress signal giving us a general area for his location, but because of our preparations for Operation Spitbreak…"

"So you're just going to leave him for dead is that it?" Dearka roared, outraged by the officer's lack of concern. "ZAFT soldiers watch out for each other…"

"We are fighting in a war here young man." The officer coldly interrupted him with a glare. "People die or go missing in war, but their sacrifices will not be forgotten. If you wish to go and look for your friend, by all means do so. But do not expect us to it for you; we're quite short-handed already following that disaster in South Africa. Now if you don't mind I have other matters to attend to."

As the officer walked off, Dearka muttered a few curses under his breath before spitting on the ground where the officer had stood. As he began to walk off, he noticed Nicol getting into and activating a helicopter and made a beeline for him.

"Don't try to stop me Dearka." Nicol said firmly from the helicopter as Dearka came within earshot. "We've already lost Rusty, Athrun, and Miguel. I'm not just going to sit back and lose Yzak as well."

"Who said I was going to stop you?" Dearka said with a raised eyebrow and an irritated tone. "I was going to tell you to wait up since I'm coming with you to look for Yzak."

* * *

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Cagalli asked as she sat by the fire eating, causing Yzaki to look at her sharply. "That unit… were you among the ones who attacked Heliopolis to get it?"

"And if I was?" he answered with neutral tone and expression. Before she could retort some sort of high-and-mighty rebuttal, he continued. "Before you tell me that Heliopolis was a neutral colony, let me ask you: how is cooperating with the Alliance to develop prototype mobile suits supposed to be neutral?"

"Well that's…"

"Relax, I'm not condemning you. In fact I understand the reasoning for it: seeing as you seem to be from that nation, could you tell me what Orb's ideals are again?"

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion at the most unexpected of questions, she paused before replying, "Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations."

"It's quite a wonderful ideal, actually…" Yzak commented. "…until you see the underlying hypocrisy behind it."

"Hypocrisy…?" Cagalli snarled in anger.

"Basically, it won't matter how many people end up dying in other nations' wars, or what atrocities those nations do, so long as Orb itself is left alone." Yzak said, noting the girl flinch as the words struck her like a blow. "I won't question your country's ideals, or why someone from Orb was piloting an Alliance fighter, but my point is that without the strength to back it up, an ideal is absolutely meaningless. Your country's leaders, or at least some of them, cooperated with the Alliance in the development of prototype mobile suits in order to gain the power to uphold your ideals when the time comes. In that sense, ZAFT, Orb, and the Alliance are no different. We all seek power to protect and uphold our ideals."

"But even so, Heliopolis was…!"

"You still haven't answered my question: how was Heliopolis neutral when the Alliance prototypes were built there?"

As Cagalli subsided and began to brood, Yzak sighed and said "I'm not saying you and your country's ideals are inherently right or wrong, but rather you shouldn't take them and reality at face value. The world isn't a simple place, and it's a rather twisted one, so just take your time and think about it."

"What about you?" Cagalli asked with a challenging tone. "What are your ideals, ZAFT soldier?"

Surprisingly, Yzak didn't answer, not for a long while. "I don't know." Yzak finally replied, causing Cagalli's eyes to widen. "In the past, I would have just simply followed what the PLANT leadership would have decided, but now… after everything that's happened, I can't help but wonder: assuming we win this war and wrest access to space from the Alliance, how long? How long until we become what we fight against? Will I still be proud to call myself a soldier of ZAFT when that time comes? I mean because of what the PLANT leadership is doing, we are on the brink of war with the Principality of Zeon because it goes against their ideals of Humanity should leave for space, not to mention we are being blamed for the destruction of Heliopolis."

Cagalli paled at that last part, she heard Zeon was an extremely powerful nation, and she has seen their mobile suits, they were far more advanced than any mobile suits they could field, and it worried her that what if they were more advanced than the Gundams.

Sighing, he tossed a few more logs on the fire before standing up. "There should be enough logs here to keep the fire going for the rest of the night. Feel free to stay here, but I'm going to stay in my unit. We both have a lot to think about, and what we need to think about has to be done on our own."

As the ZAFT pilot hoisted himself back in his unit, Cagalli found herself thinking about the ZAFT pilot's words; was Orb really no different from the Alliance or from ZAFT considering the underlying hypocrisy of its ideals? Was sacrificing Heliopolis' ideals neutrality and risking the lives of all its citizens worth the hope of gaining the strength to uphold Orb's ideals? Neither the Natural nor the Coordinator realized it, but neither had much sleep that night, troubled as they were by their inner demons.

* * *

**Carpentaria**

ZAFT Commander Rau Le Creuset stepped off of the courier that had carried him halfway across the world from Gibraltar to Carpentaria, and was surprised to find none of his three pilots waiting for him. He supposed they were out pursuing the legged ship, but something told him they were not.

"Where are the members of the Joule Team?" he asked the officer leading the reception party.

"They're out searching for their commander." The man replied apologetically. "His transport when down over the Eastern Equatorial Union; I told them that we might as well declare him MIA with a war going on and all, but they insisted on searching for him."

Rau simply smiled tolerantly. "Let them do as they please and satisfy their concerns for now." He firmly ordered. "Elsman and Amalfi are both elites, and their judgement can be trusted. If anyone can find Commander Joule, they can."

"But sir…" the man persisted, causing Rau to stop walking and to look at him in the eyes.

"Look at it this way…" he explained. "…seeing as Commander Joule is Councillor Joule's only son, if he really is dead, then we can claim to have at least tried to search for him. And if he's alive and was found after you declared him MIA, then at least imagine the resulting backlash from the boy's mother."

As expected, the man paled at the thought of daring a Councillor's wrath, mentally thanking his earlier decision not to stop Elsman and Amalfi from performing a search. Smiling at the man's discomfort, Rau resumed his walk towards the military base.

* * *

"Well girl, did you come to any conclusions last night?" Yzak asked, hefting his helmet over a shoulder and suppressing a yawn.

"No, not really…" she replied, looking as tired and sleep-deprived as he was.

"Good…" he snorted, causing her to glare at him. "…because I wouldn't have believed you if you said you had. And before you ask, no, I did not find my answers either."

Sighing, he said "Anyway, I've picked up three approaching units; two of them are from ZAFT, and the other one is from the Alliance. I don't know why someone from Orb is with the Alliance, nor do I particularly care, but its best you go back to where your unit is to avoid funny questions for the both of us."

Growling at his condescending attitude, the girl strode off into the trees, and Yzak turned and walked back to the beach. "Hey!" the girl shouted, causing him into in surprise to see her smiling at him from the treeline. "I never did learn your name. Mine's Cagalli; what's yours?"

"Yzak… just Yzak." He said after a moment of open-mouthed surprise, after which Cagalli headed into the trees with a friendly wave. "Hmph…" he muttered with a wistful smile as he spoted two approaching ZAFT helicopters. "… She wasn't what I expected from a Natural… Cagalli, huh?"

On the other side of the island, Cagalli waved a welcome to Mu's Sky Grasper as it flew over her downed unit and the Strike surfaced out of the sea.

* * *

**Archangel**

**Over the pacific**

The Sky Grasper and the Strike landed back into the Archangel, welcoming them back as Cagalli and Kira hoisted down from the Strike. The blonde girl noticed the green mobile suit beside the Kshatriya, "Kira what mobile suit is that? I've never seen it before."

"It's Commander Marida's new unit, the Kshatriya was given to Puru 12, that girl hugging the Kshatriya's foot." Kira pointed to the orange-haired girl.

Cagalli was taken aback that such a young girl was a pilot, she then noticed Marida approaching, "Commander, why is a young girl piloting a mobile suit?"

"Because she wants to, and also because she is actually my age, we found her in cryo stasis a few months ago."

Cagalli just looked at her before turning to the new mobile suit, "That suit, is it a new model?"

"In a way, it just arrived yesterday while you were missing."

Before the Cagalli could reply, the warnings around the ship went off, "Attention! There is an unknown mobile suit approaching at an extremely high speed! All pilots prepare for launch!"

**(Play Gundam Unicorn OST – Sinanju)**

Marida smiled, "Well then, I believe my new partner is finally here."

Kira looked at her with a surprised look, "Partner? You mean that new pilot you told us about yesterday?"

Marida nodded, "Inform the bridge I will be going alone." She then hoisted herself up to her Sinanju, and moved the unit to the ship's catapult.

After everyone cleared the hangar, the green Sinanju was cleared for launch, "Marida Cruz, Sinanju, launch!"

* * *

**Archangel's bridge**

Murrue and the rest who were at the bridge watch in wide eyed amazement as the Sinanju flies off towards the unknown mobile suit. Natarle could only widen her eyes in shock and wonder, "My god."

Mu whistled, "Look at her go, I've never seen such speed from a mobile suit."

Murrue then looked at Kira, "Was there any reason why Marida requested that she went alone?"

"She said that the unknown mobile suit is her new partner."

Everyone raised their eyebrows in surprise as they watched from the ship's monitor. Both mobile suits were approaching each other at an almost impossible speed. They were shocked when they finally saw that the unknown mobile suit was another Sinanju. But what completely floored them was both units' was when both units clashed in high speed as their shields activated the beam axes.

"Now that's what I call welcome greeting." Mu whistled as he glances at the rest. Their jaws were wide opened as they observed the high speed battle, it was all a blur expect for the discharge of electricity coming from the clashing beam sabers and axes. The rest of the crew along with the civilians were watching from view monitors. They could not believe that mobile-suits like those exist.

Marida manoeuvred once more as she stabilized her thrusters for another attack, the other Sinanju doing the same, pushing their thrusters to their limits as they clashed once more, both mobile suits trying to overpower the other.

Cagalli who was at the bridge as well broke out in cold sweat, _"Such power."_ She thought as she observed the two mobile suits clashing with such precision and speed, speed thought impossible to achieve with mobile suits.

**(End song)**

The two green Sinanju immediately stopped before they hit each other and flew off towards the Archangel and landed into its hangar. Everyone in the bridge got up and rushed to the hangar to meet the pilots, that fight was just simply unreal.

They then spotted the mobile suits cockpits open wide as the pilots got off. Marida was the first to remove her helmet, "Good fight." revealing another female pilot behind Marida.

The second pilot chuckled as she removed her helmet, everyone besides Puru 12 had their eyes bug out in surprise, she looked exactly like Marida, only with her hair a darker shade of red compared to Marida's light red. She looked so young, almost as young as Marida.

The pilot then introduced herself, "Lieutenant Kushina Cruz of The Zeon Mobile Suit Corps. I am also Marida's mother."

Everyone expect Marida and Puru 12 just stood there wide-eyed and in disbelief, this young looking woman who possible can't be older than at least 22 years old is Marida's mother. Murrue finally found it in her to speak "But how? You can't possibly be older than 20?"

Kushina laughed, "I get that a lot! I was born in the Jupiter moon of Pandora, it's a habitable moon. Much like Earth. It's not the only habitable and breathable moon in Jupiter though, there's at least probably several more moons just like it"

This shocked Murrue to no end; there were habitable moons in Jupiter. Kushina then continued, "Pandora you see emits a unique type of radiation that changes the biology of humans a bit, my family on my side gained long lives and slow aging process. Believe it or not I'm actually 40 years old."

Flay stood there and stared at the young looking woman, she was jealous that she could stay so young at such an age, and she was absolutely beautiful, as beautiful as Marida.

Murrue then took out her hand, "Well then Lieutenant, we are happy to have you on board for the meantime. I am Murrue Ramius, captain of the Archangel."

Kushina took her hand and smiled, "Likewise captain."

As Marida and her mother walked out of the hangar with Murrue, Cagalli gazed upon the Sinanjus; they were a frightening force, their frames shining like emerald gem, their speed and power like demons. Thus from that battle between the two, the Emerald Demons were born.

* * *

**NA: SHAZAM! Kushina is finally here, and Marida got a Sinanju to partner up with her mother. Yzak had a nice long talk with Cagalli about their country's ideals. Will love bloom between them?**

**Marida's Sinanju is equipped with funnels, hence the 'F' in its Unit Number. Besides that it has the same armaments of the original Sinanju, just coloured in green as well.**

**Mu… oh Mu, don't worry, you still have Murrue.**

**I love the Sinanju's beam axes attached to the shield! It's so epic!**

**The Emerald Demons have finally been born, two green Sinanjus. A mother-daughter team. What do you think?**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	16. The Land of Peace Part 1

**NA: AHAHAHAHA! I have achieved the awesome! Though I don't know what I did.**

* * *

**-Story Start-**

**Archangel**

**Nearing the Orb Border**

The archangel staggered over the Pacific, its armour blackened in places and launching missiles and firing its CIWS in desperation against the three ZAFT Gundams along with ten DINNs circling around it. Normally, even such an advanced and well-armed vessel would have gone down easily against three next-generation mobile suits, but the Archangel also had the Strike along with two Sinanjus to count on, as well as the ace pilot Mu La Flaga in his Sky Grasper. The _Garencieres_ remained cloaked nearby as their crew watch in amusement as their two Sinanjus were tearing the ZAFT DINNS a new one.

Watching a DINN get torn to shreds by the green mono-eyed mobile suit's beam axes attached to its shield Dearka growled, "Yzak, let's get in close and finish this in one blow!" urging his friend and commander even as he fired his guns at the Sky Grasper, which dodged his shots before circling for a counter-attack.

"Don't get reckless!" Yzak snapped back, firing his beam rifle against the Strike and the other green mono-eyed mobile suit while dodging their return fire. "Our enemies aren't stupid or lightly-armed! And those two green ones are tearing our DINNs to shreds!" cursing, he looked over to the tactical display which showed an Orb fleet sailing in force nearby, their guns and missiles at the ready.

"We're getting too close to the Orb border…" he whispered unhappily, before an alarm caught his attention. Returning to the battle at hand, he barely had time to register the Strike charging at him, taking advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration. The old Yzak would have launched a counter-attack, believing that the best defence has the best offence… but Yzak had changed. He was more cautious now, though the complete reasons for the change still eluded.

"Shiho! Stay away from those green mobile-suits; they will tear you to shreds if you do!" Yzak ordered one of the DINN pilots.

"Yes sir!" Shiho Hahnenfuss replied with acknowledgement, keeping her distance from the green monsters, she couldn't believe such mobile suits could possess such power. It was unreal. "Where did these mobile suits come from!? Their power is unreal! We lost six DINNS already!" she cried out once more as she barely dodges a beam shot from the green mobile suit, damaging her unit's left leg.

Before launching his assault on the legged ship, he had realized that the only way the Strike could ever have performed so well was because the pilot was a Coordinator himself. At first, he had been furious at the thought one of their own had betrayed them, but then reason asserted itself. While a traitor Coordinator as the Strike's pilot was indeed plausible, just as plausible was the idea that a brainwashed 'Combat Coordinator' or a First Generation Coordinator whose Natural parents were in Alliance custody was piloting the unit. In both cases, fury had given away to pity, especially for the latter.

Rather than meeting the attack head on, Yzak let the Strike come to him, blocking its beam sabre with the Duel's shield while simultaneously drawing a beam sabre of his own and counter-attacking. The Strike blocked it easily enough… but it only served as a distraction to fire his shoulder-mounted missile pod at point-blank range. The Phase-Shift Armour ensured that the unit didn't take any damage… but it didn't mean the kinetic force of the explosions was nullified, and the Strike was sent flying.

"He's yours Nicol!" he shouted, and in response the Blitz turned and fired off several beams towards the Strike. Much to Nicol and Yzak's surprise, one of the two green mobile suits flew in at extremely high speed and intercepted the Blitz's beams with its shield and proceeded to slice one of the Blitz's legs off and kicked him, sending the Blitz down to the sea.

"Nicol…!" Yzak shouted in alarm, firing his beam rifle at the green one in a random pattern to cover Nicol's retreat. "Dammit, these pilots are good!" Yzak muttered unhappily, as the green mobile suit evaded all his shots with ease.

"Attention Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces…" a man's voice said firmly over all the channels, bringing the battle to a standstill. Yzak looked over to the tactical display and his widened at the sight of the Orb fleet now aiming their weapons at them. "…you are now approaching Orb Union territorial waters. Correct your course immediately or you will be fired upon."

"Are these guys for real?" Dearka asked in disbelief.

Shiho grimaced, "Sir, your orders!" she said as she watched the Orb fleet closing in.

"This isn't good…" Yzak muttered, and then noticed with alarm the legged ship changing course towards Orb Union territorial waters. "Are they crazy? They're sailing right into hostile territory!"

"Like hell…" Dearka shouted, heading straight for the legged ship at full speed and ignoring Yzak's shouted attempts at holding him back. Weaving his way around the suppressive fire from the legged ship, he combined both of his guns and fired at the same time the Sky Grasper fired at his Guul sub-flight lifter, destroying it and sending him falling to the sea.

But the damage had already been done, the legged ship's engines going off in a massive explosion, causing the lumbering vessel to crash into the sea well within firing range of the Orb fleet. After a moment of surprised silence, the fleet commander issued another statement on all channels. "In response to your unauthorized entry into our territory, our forces will now exercise our nation's right to self-defence." Immediately after making that statement, the Orb fleet opened fire, and attack helicopters moved to intercept the Duel. Not wanting to cause an incident, Yzak prudently chose to retreat and the Orb units did not attempt a pursuit.

* * *

Once the withdrawal of ZAFT forces had been confirmed, the Orb ruling council made a collective sigh of relief. Sitting back in his chair, Uzumi Nara Athha stroked his chin and looked down at the reports strewn on the table, and pondered what course of action to take next. He also wondered about his wayward daughter and her association with the crew of the Alliance warship… technically, the could have them escorted out of the Orb Union once his daughter had been retrieved, but that would be quite uncharitable. But then again, Morgenroete would probably want to have a look at the ship and its mobile suit's data, regardless of the recent progress made in mobile suit development in covert cooperation with the Principality of Zeon.

Standing up, he made a decision and said to the council "Now then, what should we say to cover up this mess?"

One of the councilman stood, "We can cover up this without problems, it's those two outrageously powerful unknown green mobile suits accompanying the Archangel that concerns us, where did they come from?"

"They are without a doubt from Zeon, possibly meeting up with Lieutenant Quattro here. We will let them in as well."

* * *

**Morgenroete**

"You wanted to see me, Engineer Simmons?" Quattro said as he entered the woman's office.

"Yes I did, Lieutenant Quattro… and why are you wearing your sunglasses indoors?" she asked, puzzled by the blonde man's behaviour even if it wasn't the first time she had seen him do so.

"My apologies…" Quattro replied, removing his sunglasses as she sat down before her desk. "…it's something of a habit."

"I see; no harm done, I was just curious, and I suppose you have reasons." She said with a reassuring smile, though Quattro didn't smile back. Coughing to regain her composure, she continued. "How goes the training? Those three girls are our most promising trainee pilots after all."

Quattro sat back and closed his eyes. After a long moment he reopened them before replying. "They have talent, that much is certain, as well as excellent teamwork. What is lacking is their lack of experience, which is to be expected I suppose, but what I'm most concerned about is their over-dependence on their units' abilities. A mobile suit is a weapon, but a weapon should serve as an extension of one's body. It'll be a while I can say I'm confident about their abilities on the battlefield."

"Well for all our sakes I hope this war ends before those girls sent out onto the battlefield." Erica noted seriously, and Quattro nodded. Mineva herself had said as much before he had left Side 3, although in her case she had hoped that somehow the war would end before Patrick Zala could become the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman. But even then, somehow he knew, and she probably as well, that wouldn't be the case.

"Engineer Simmons…" he said, looking at the woman. "…somehow I doubt you called me in here just to ask about the training of those three."

"Indeed…" she replied with a nod; pressing a button on her desk, she activated a display showing the Archangel sailing into a shielded underground dock. Quattro narrowed his eyes, all of his self-control suppressing a reaction from a seeing a ship like the White base from the One Year War. "…unlikely as it may seem, it would seem that the Archangel and the Strike G-Weapon along with two unknown mobile suits managed to make it this far…"

"Two unknown ones?" Quattro interjected.

"Yes… these two." Erica pressed another button, revealing the two Sinanjus on the deck "These two unknown mobile suits were with the Archangel."

"Tell Morgenroete they are not to be touched, those are Zeon units."

Erica's eyes widened in surprise at his bluntness, "Are you sure those are Zeon units?"

"You can tell by the markings on their chests and sleeves. These two units are piloted by the mother-daughter team Kushina and Marida Cruz." Quattro said with a bit more bluntness. "I was informed of the two units not too long ago by my superiors that they would be arriving here, along with their ship nearby; I did not expect they would be tagging along with the Archangel."

"Very well, I will inform them immediately. As for the Archangel, in exchange for supplies, repair, and maintenance, we're being given access to their combat data and assistance. Combined with the AMBAC System, this should speed up development of the Astray significantly. However, regarding your presence…"

"It should be no problem." Quattro reassured her. "Official Zeon policy is to maintain cold but friendly relations with the nations of Earth, regardless of whether or not they're part of the Alliance. The Alliance cannot condemn our covert support for Orb's mobile suit program, considering they have your covert support for theirs, and the Allster Arrangement regarding trade with the Alliance Lunar Base."

"I see… but about the policy and Blue Cosmos…" she began to ask with a worried tone, but Quattro cut her off.

"Rest assured, Blue Cosmos does not and will never receive the support of the Principality." He told her reassuringly. "Zeon has no racial discrimination whatsoever, and that policy will be extended to Coordinators despite the unfriendly relations with PLANT. I expect things will get more complicated in the future, but I assure you that the Principality will never accept the ravings of Blue Cosmos fanatics."

Erica gave out a sigh in relief, "All right then… we should get going, I would like to meet the pilots of these Sinanjus as you call it."

* * *

**Deikun City, Side 3**

**Military Hospital**

Mineva walked down the sterile white hallway in the military hospital accompanied by the Prime Minister and several other members of the Cabinet. She didn't like what had to be done, but it had to be done, and what she and those who came with her would soon learn, would decide what they would do regarding their long-term policy about Coordinators. While she had no intention of accepting Blue Cosmos' ideologies, the abilities of the Coordinators, their critical weakness, and the implications of all those would decide whether or not they would have a place in the future moulded by the ideals of Zeon Zum Deikun.

Waiting for them in the examination room was a female doctor standing before a blank but active display. "Gentlemen, your Highness, we have finished our analysis of the genetic samples obtained from one Athrun Zala. I am Doctor Samantha Crane, and I will explain our findings as quickly yet clearly as possible."

"You may begin, Doctor Crane…" Mineva prompted her, and the doctor nodded.

"Please observe…" she said, pressing a button and showing three genetic diagrams on the display. "…the one on the left is the general genetic diagram of an Oldtype, while the one in the centre is genetic diagram of a Newtype. Now observe what happens when we overlap them."

She pressed another and the two diagrams overlapped. "As you can see the differences between an Oldtype and a Newtype are completely superficial. In other words, both still count as a Natural. However, in case of a Coordinator…"

Pressing another button and once again overlapping the general genetic diagrams, even people like Minerva who barely had a general understanding of genetics could see that something was wrong. "…there are key gaps in a Coordinator's genetic code." The doctor explained. "It's not that serious with regards to the First Generation and the Second Generation, but based on our experiments and the general data we have obtained from PLANT, the reason the Third Generation is sterile is because of progressive genetic damage. Not enough to kill them or cause mutation, but enough to render them sterile."

"And I assume you've found a solution?" Mineva pressed.

The doctor nodded and said "We have, though it is unlikely PLANT would ever accept it. We conducted experiments using genetic material obtained from Athrun Zala as well as other material obtained by Intelligence from PLANT's gene-banks. The genetic stability can be solved by artificially filling in the gaps, but this only exacerbates the damage in the long-term, resulting in horrific mutations. PLANT scientists know that much, but they continue to proceed with their research in the hope of perfecting the process."

"However…"

"Yes; our solution, based on our experiments between Athrun Zala's genetic material and genetic material from our own gene-banks, is to have Coordinators intermarry with Naturals. We have yet to determine the extent of the Coordinator's abilities that will be inherited by the offspring, but the key point is that genetic damage is repaired and succeeding generations regain their evolutionary potential."

"Our course is set then…" Mineva said, looking at the diagrams sternly. "…the Coordinators must sacrifice their pride if they are to have a future. As for us, it seems our next turn is going to make a lot of people in PLANT very unhappy."

* * *

**Morgenroete**

The Strike arrived at Morgenroete early in the morning, piloted by its pilot, Kira Yamato. Along with the Sinanjus piloted by the mother-daughter team Kushina and Marida Cruz. Lieutenant Natarle Badgiruel had made a fuss against the idea of giving away combat data to an unallied nation, but they had no real choice in the matter; without resupply and repair, the Archangel had no chance of making it to Alaska, Strike or no Strike.

Morgenroete had taken custody of the Strike upon arrival, after which Kira and the Cruz' were escorted to meet with Senior Erica Simmons, who had promptly showed off of Orb's mass produced MBF-M1U M1 Astray, shortly before Cagalli had joined them.

"Ah you must be the Sinanjus' pilots; I am Erica Simmons, Senior Engineer of Morgenroete." She held out her hand towards the mother and daughter, "It was quite surprise to how young you look Miss Kushina."

"Likewise miss Erica. Once again I am Lieutenant Kushina Cruz." Kushina took her hand shook it while smiling.

Marida held out her hand as well as Erica shook it, "Lieutenant Commander Marida Cruz, although between me and my mother, our ranks hold no value as we are a team." Marida said, causing Erica and Cagalli to raise their eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh my now that's something, disregarding rank between the two of you." Erica replied with surprise evident in her voice. "My superiors are brooding like children right now because they aren't permitted to touch the Sinanjus."

"The technology in the Sinanjus are top secret, they should be thankful that we are already helping you guys with Mobile Suit development." Marida replied coolly.

Kira then spoke up, "So what do you intend to do with your mobile suits?"

"You know this as well, don't you?" Erica replied to Kira's question. "Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation attack to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations. That is Orb's ideal, and the Astray will give us the strength to back up that ideal."

Cagalli looked like she wanted to say more, but after a moment, simply walked away. Erica looked after her with a measuring look, and then motioned for Kira and Cruz' to join them as they headed to an observation deck.

Marida narrowed her eyes at the three Astrays entering, "Miss Erica, they resemble Gundams quite a bit with those heads."

"Yes I suppose they do."

"You're quite optimistic about them, Engineer Simmons." Cagalli observed, her arms crossed as she watched three Astrays enter the exercise grounds. "Without Natural-configured OS, the Astray is unusable."

"I wouldn't say that." Erica responded cooly, Cagalli's eyes widening as she noted the fluid motions of the Astray units."

"Hey look, it's Lady Cagalli."

"She's back? I bet she's wondering how we managed to get so good while she was gone."

"Don't be snide Mayura. It's not like she'd be have known about the new technology that was implemented in the last refit."

"What new technology?" Cagalli wondered out loud when a crested, red and maroon mobile suit appeared at the other side of exercise grounds.

Marida raised an eyebrow at the red mobile suit, "Well now, haven't seen that machine in a while."

Kushina chuckled, "Indeed, I've always wanted to see it up close, and now I do."

"All right you three, enough chitchat. Let's see what you've got today." The pilot of the red mobile suit said even as he drew a tomahawk with a red-hot blade.

"Is that… a ZAFT mobile suit?" Kira said in shock, noting the mono-eye on the red mobile suit, causing him to wince as the two red heads to glare at him. They have just been insulted by what Kira said about the red mobile suit.

"No, as it seems that Kushina and Marida glared at you for that remark, I'd appreciate it if you don't mention it to him. As you probably already know, Lieutenant Quattro and his country aren't really friendly with PLANT, though they don't have anything against Coordinators in particular." Erica said, causing the shocked Kira and Cagalli to look at her. Cagalli never bothered to ask Marida if Zeon had anything against Coordinators, so she never knew what Zeon's views were on Coordinators. "Cagalli, didn't you notice the Astray's new model number? The 'U' stands for universal, as in a unit that can be piloted by any Human, without the need for an advanced support OS."

Marida then got Erica's attention, "By the way, our ship will be arriving shortly, can you inform your superiors?"

Erica nods with a smile, "Of course."

"Is this…" Cagalli whispered, looking back at the sparring match where the three Astrays fought the venerable Zeon mobile suit. "…the power of the Universal Century?"

* * *

**NA: Never EVER call a Zeon mobile suit a ZAFT unit. You are just asking for it. The 'Red Comet' Zaku II makes another appearance.**

**Yzak's love interest Shiho Hahnenfuss finally makes an appearance, do not worry, their relationship will develop even further as the story progresses.**

**Mineva did not like what had to be done, but it was a necessary evil to do to save the Coordinators because of sterility.**

**The Sinanjus had their first taste of combat, despite that they just went easy on them. As for the question about the NZ-999 Neo-Zeong, it is not going to make an appearance, as it is quite expensive to build, as they were so far able to construct only two Sinanjus due to budget cost. Yes they are very expensive to build.**

**As for Char… he really loves sunglasses… like really. Dammit Char!**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON! **


	17. The Land of Peace Part 2

**NA: Brothers and Sisters of Zeon! We have won! *Cheers* meh just wanted to say that, yes I am a die-hard Zeon fan. 50+ reviews!**

* * *

**-Story Start-**

"We've been waiting here for a month already!" Dearka finally exploded, slamming his glass down on the table and causing Nicol – who was eating across the table from him – to look at him sharply. "What the hell is with Yzak? He hasn't been acting like himself for a long time now, especially with this plan of his to sit and wait for the legged ship to come out. It's almost like he's trying to be Athrun's replacement or something."

**_Flashback_**

**ZAFT Vosgulov-class Submarine Gorolev**

_"According to Orb's official statement, the legged ship was able to avoid destruction and escaped northwards to Alaska." Shiho Hahnenfuss told her fellow pilots in the CIC. Dearka snorted in disbelief, while both Nicol and Yzak were silently contemplative._

_"That's bullshit." Dearka said. "I say we go in and prove them wrong."_

_"Don't be stupid." Shiho told him sternly. "This isn't like that raid on Heliopolis you guys did in the past; attacking a national homeland is very different from attacking a colony. There's a reason why despite their small size that country has the strength to resist the Alliance and ZAFT pressure for them to enter the war."_

_"Shiho's right Dearka." Nicol said, trying to placate the Buster's pilot. "The Orb homeland isn't something we can confront on our own, and didn't you see what those two unknown green mobile suits did to us? They wiped out 6 DINNS in a matter of seconds, they could still be there."_

_"Then what are we supposed to do? Return to Carpentaria in disgrace… Yzak!"_

_"Calm down, Dearka." Yzak finally spoke up. "There's no doubt at all that the legged ship is in Orb. Orb and Morgenroete probably want the Strike and legged ship's combat data in exchange for resupply and maintenance. I can't really blame them though… and we can't prove it either."_

_"So what…"_

_"We do nothing. We wait to the north of the Orb Union and wait for them to come out." Yzak said while smiling at Shiho, there was something about her that could make him smile._

_Said girl blushed a bit and smiled back._

**_End Flashback_**

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be Yzak's best friend, you don't understand him at all." Nicol said, taking a long drink.

"What?"

"Don't you get it yet? Yzak isn't trying to replace anyone. He's just trying to be more mature and collected to honour Athrun and Rusty's memory. Or did you forget that it was Yzak who signed off on Athrun and Rusty breaking away from the rest of us during the raid on Heliopolis? He probably blames himself for Rusty and Athrun's demise."

"No way… but why would he… does he really think that they, or we blame him for their demise?" Dearka said in reply, his eyes wide with shock.

"No… he blames himself." Nicol said sadly, setting down his glass. "All his numerous brushes with death and his recent promotion just drove it home. That's why he's been so self-conscious and collected lately; he's trying to keep us from recklessly losing our lives."

"Yzak…"

"Just leave him be for now. I'm sure he'll come around on his own after a while. Besides I think he likes that new pilot who recently joined us, Shiho Hahnenfuss. She could be good for him." He said smiling at the last part, Dearka doing the same.

* * *

**Morgenroete, Orb**

**MS Hangar**

Quattro walked down the MS hangar looking for a certain blonde-haired Alliance ace, all the while pondering the Archangel's combat experience during their journey from Heliopolis to Orb. From the destruction of Heliopolis and Artemis, to their encounter with Lacus Clyne, the battle between the 8-th Fleet and ZAFT, he was increasingly concerned about the way this war was going.

Then there was their encounter with ZAFT Commander Andrew Waltfeld – who according to the personality profile by Orb Intelligence was disturbingly similar to Ramba Ral – and their eventful trip across the ocean to Alaska; if he hadn't known better, it was like the universe was playing a joke on the Zeon exiles in the form of a One Year War remake. If so, he wasn't amused; at this rate, it would be logical to assume the upcoming ZAFT offensive would be similar to his own ill-fated assault on Jaburo, which would be followed by assault's on ZAFT's fortresses in space, just like how the old Earth Federation assaulted Solomon and A Baoa Qu.

Even more worrying for Quattro was what would happen afterwards; in the Universal Century, the reinstated Republic of Zeon had become a Federation puppet after the war – discontent over the affair along with revelation of Laplace's Box would result in Mineva's ascension to the throne and the restoration of the Principality – along with the rise of the fascist Titans. While Zeon was indeed friendly with Earth, he doubted that would continue if the Alliance went down the same path as the old Earth Federation.

Quattro knew Mineva had plans to guide the Cosmic Era towards the path envisioned by Zeon Zum Deikun; as an idealist tempered by the ruthless nature of the Zabi Dynasty, there was a good chance that she would succeed where he and the other members of her family had failed. Even so, the idea of facing the Titans – or sort of facsimile – was not an entertaining one, even more so the idea of facing facsimiles of Paptimus Scirocco or Haman Karn.

"I heard that you didn't go and see your parents like the rest of your friends from Heliopolis. Why?" he heard his quarry, Lieutenant Commander Mu La Flaga from beside the Strike's cockpit, and adjusted his path accordingly.

"Well, it's not like I have anything important to talk to them about, and we still have a lot of work to do, so…" the Strike's pilot Kira Yamato began to reply when Mu interrupted.

"Kira… that's not the answer and you know it."

Kira paused in his programming work before he replied "I'm afraid if I meet them now, then I'll end up asking… asking why they hell they made me a Coordinator."

"Kira…" Mu began to say when he turned around to look at Quattro standing and listening nearby. "Eavesdropping is a bad habit, don't you know?"

"I only overheard in passing." Quattro said, removing his sunglasses and walking up the platform to stand beside the cockpit as well. "So Kira, basically you find yourself wondering about your nature as a Coordinator, or rather, you're struggling with yourself as to whether or not you're race traitor, is that right?"

"And if I am?" Kira replied with a challenging tone, disliking the man's rather cold blue eyes.

"You do realize that you are more than just the sum of your parts, right?" Quattro continued. "Whether or not you're a Coordinator, no matter what your own kind thinks of you, you are who you choose to be. Tell me, why did you choose to fight?"

"I… I only wanted to protect my friends, but…"

"Then there you have it. It's a noble, if rather selfish reason, but one you chose on your own, and what you are supposed to be has nothing to do about it. Which leads to my next question: do you believe you are a race traitor?"

"No… of course not… but…!"

"But nothing…" Quattro said firmly. "A person isn't supposed to be what others want them to be, but what they want they want to be. How else can we awaken ourselves to one another if we cannot even know ourselves? Let me say this to you: what you are supposed to be, what other want people want you to be, are all nothing compared to what you choose to make yourself to be."

"Lieutenant Quattro…"

"Now then, Commander La Flaga…" Quattro said, turning to the rather surprised Alliance ace. "…Engineer Simmons told me to look for you. She said she wanted to see if you're interested in tyring out one of the AMBAC-refitted Astrays. Something about wanting to see how well a mobile armour pilot could adapt to piloting a mobile suit."

"Alright then…" Mu said, regarding Quattro with narrowed eyes. "…but first let me ask you: are you a Newtype?"

"And if I am?"

"Nothing, I was just curious that's all. And wondering if I could sense other Newtypes apart from Le Creuset like Marida could sense me. Well then…" Nodding to Kira, he began to head for the MS exercise grounds where Erica was probably waiting for him. After a moment, Quattro put his sunglasses back on, nodded to Kira, and followed after Mu. He too was curious to see how well this man would pilot a mobile suit for the first time.

Walking to the exercise grounds he smiled a bit, _"Kira Yamato, he reminds me of Kamille a bit."_

* * *

While Kira, Mu, and Quattro were having their enlightening conversation, Murrue and Natarle were in the Archangel's CIC along with Lieutenant Colonel Ledonir Kisaka and discussing the information being displayed about the Porta Panama Spaceport.

"It seems that ZAFT is just about ready to begin their capture operation against the Porta Panam Spaceport." Murrue noted, and Natarle nodded.

"It certainly seems that way." She said, but frowned immediately afterwards. "But something about this doesn't add up. It could just be the rather unprecedented size of the force ZAFT is assembling… or the fact that they're rather being obvious about it."

"So you noticed as well?" Kisaka said wrily. "Lieutenant Quattro said something similar when he saw the information about the impending ZAFT assault."

"Lieutenant Quattro… isn't he that Zeon pilot assisting in Orb's mobile suit program?"

"Yes; both Orb and the Principality are in a rather tight spot here. We want to more about what might happen next, but since we're officially neutral, we can't ask too many questions either. Fortunately, since the Principality is rather friendly with the Alliance, they've managed to acquire more information than we have on our own, and have graciously sent us some of the data."

"More importantly, if this is true, then we might just be able to take advantage of ZAFT's preoccupation to slip through to Alaska." Murrue said hopefully. "Once we cross the Tropic of Cancer, we'll be in Alaskan airspace. It's unlikely they'll try and continue the pursuit once we get that far."

"I agree." Natarle concurred with a nod. "Let's see. From Orb's closest point to Alaska, moving at optimal speed, I'd say we should be able to cross the Tropic of Cancer in a day and two nights or so."

"However, that's plenty of time for that ZAFT team that was hounding you to launch at least one attack." Kisaka said. "Considering how persistent they are, or at least that's what I've gathered, it's unlikely that they've returned to Carpentaria and are probably just waiting for you to come out."

Murrue simply sighed before saying "Unfortunately, it's not like we have much choice in the matter either."

* * *

Yzak stood on the submarine's upper deck, tossing out strips of bread out on the water for the gulls to feed on, not having much appetite of his own either. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned to see Shiho standing behind with a worried look on her face. "What's wrong Shiho?" he asked. "Did something happen?"

"No, it's just that…" Shiho looked uncomfortable before sighing and continuing. "…you seem troubled about something commander…"

"Yzak… just Yzak is fine Shiho, if I can call you by your first name then you can call me by mine." Yzak said, smiling at her.

Shiho blushes, "O-okay com- Yzak." She took a deep breath. "I was just worried that you seem troubled. Like something is on your mind."

"Yeah… during our raid on Heliopolis I signed off two pilots, Athrun and Rusty, because of that, it led to their demise." Yzak looked down in shame.

Shiho looked at him in worry then smiled as she placed her hand on his on the railing. "It's not your fault Yzak, we're ZAFT soldiers, when we wear this uniform, we signed up to give our lives for our nation. Whenever we go on a mission, we could be going into our deaths. That is just how it is. So don't even blame yourself for what happened."

Yzak looked at her in the eye and smiled, "Thank you. You're a good person Shiho, you know that? And a model soldier others should aspire for."

Shiho blushed, "No I'm not… I'm just a soldier of ZAFT, and I'm not that good of a person."

Yzak chuckled, "I beg to differ."

"You're just saying that to get me flustered aren't you?"

"Maybe a bit." Yzak said teasingly.

Shiho pouted, she was about to playfully slap him on the shoulder when a wave rocked the ship a bit causing her to stumble onto Yzak's chest.

Yzak caught her as she stumbled but blushed when he realized how close they were, how their faces were only a few inches apart. For some reason the white haired commander couldn't control himself as she closed the distance between them, his hold on her waist tightening.

Both their hearts beating fast as they gaze upon each other in the eye.

Shiho was in la-la land when the distance between each other closes. Her eyes slowly closing as their lips drew closer and closer. She whispered his name with a breath "…Yzak…"

"Shiho..."

Their lips touched as both their eyes closed. He had never felt this feeling before, and it was an amazing feeling. As they kiss, his hold on her tightened a bit more. Shiho's hold on him tightened as well, never letting go each other go.

Nicol was on his way to the deck when he noticed Yzak and Shiho's lips locked. He blushed in embarrassment and hid himself out of sight as to not draw their attention. He was hoping he could talk to Yzak about his sudden change in behaviour, but that could wait. Yzak is doing something far more important right now.

* * *

**Orb Docks**

Quattro and the rest of _Garencieres _crew were on the docks as they watch the Archangel preparing to leave. Murrue was with them saying their goodbyes and thanks.

"I cannot thank you enough how much you have helped us getting this far, wouldn't have made it this far were it not for you." Murrue said as she shook Marida's hand.

"It was not a problem Captain, we just did what we thought was right. And we operate independently compared to our other forces, we only answer to her highness. If you have someone to thank, it would be Mineva." Marida replied as she smiled.

"So I you all will be stationed here for a while? I hear you have been granted shore leave here on Orb, while some of you will also be assisting them with their mobile suits."

Kushina nods, "Yes, we will be stationed here for a while; her highness feels something will happen in the coming month."

"I see, well I guess this is goodbye for now. I'm sure we will see each other again." Mu said as he grins at them.

"Yep, this isn't goodbye for good; it's been a pleasure working with you guys." Suberoa held out his hand as Mu took it. "You watch your ass out there kiddo."

"Yes sir."

They wave goodbye at their Zeon friends as they boarded the Archangel. As the ship leaves, Marida couldn't help but get worried. She whispered to the blonde man with sunglasses.

"Char, it's obvious ZAFT is going to attack JOSH-A. It's going to be like Jaburo isn't it?"

"Yeah… I swear this universe is making fun of us." Char/Quattro sighed. "Any word from Loni Garvey and Yonem Kirks?"

Marida nods. "They just touched down on the pacific not for from Orb, they are deploying the U-99, U-801 and U-202 as we speak, they seem to have found an uninhabited island to be used as a base. Loni brought her Shamblo with her as well it seems. Her Highness is getting extremely nervous with how this war is going. The Z'Gok squadrons and the Invisible Knights have arrived as well to support us."

Suberoa burrowed his brows, "It's a good thing neither the Alliance nor ZAFT have seen our ground and amphibious mobile suits yet. With them we can cause confusion thinking ZAFT is under attack by their own forces, or the Alliance. With how Blue Cosmos is doing, they getting close to becoming those damnde Titans." Everyone growled at the mention of the Titans.

"Orb will be under attack by Alliance soon, that much we know. If they do come, we will be there to help Orb."

Char then turned to Marida, "How is the Big Zam's modernization?"

"Slow, very slow. When we recovered it, it was in pieces. Its completion might take another year or two. Thanks to its somewhat simple design, we can produce probably 4 more of it but that's it. It's far too expensive to put it through mass production, but it's better than nothing."

Char nods as he puts his sunglasses back on, resuming his Quattro persona, "Well then, I better get going, I still need to recalibrate more of those Astrays."

They all nod as he heads back to the hangar, Kushina turned to her daughter with a worried look, she watched and read the history of the One Year War, and Jaburo was a bloody one. "So ZAFT is most likely walking into a trap at JOSH-A." Kushina said.

Marida sighed "Yeah, it's Jaburo all over again. We'll have to wait for our Jukon-class subs and the Shamblo to get here soon. This war is going to come here… to Orb."

* * *

**NA: KYAAAAAAA! Yzak and Shiho! ShiZak! AAAAAAAAH! *Dear lord I sound like a fangirl***

**The Bloody Valentine War is exactly like the One Year War. Kira reminds Char of Kamille, whom he had a sort of father-son/teacher-student relationship with. What will happen next? Tune in next time!**

**JOSH-A is the Cosmic Era's Jaburo as it is the Alliance's headquarters.**

**Archangel has finally left, and the ****_Garencieres _****staying in Orb for the meantime.**

**The repair and modernization of the Big Zam is a slow process, so it won't be making an appearance until later on, probably in Destiny already.**

**Yes the AMA-X7 Shamblo from Unicorn is going to make an appearance. One Year War mobile suits like the Z'Goks and the Zaku I Sniper Types along with Doms and Dom Tropens are still being used for ground and amphibious combat. Why? Because they are still effective and cost efficient. As well as the Jukon-class submarines that they used in the One Year War.**

**The Invisible Knights were a special unit during the One Year War and the game Mobile Suit Battlefield Record 0081.**

**And yes, Loni Garvey and Yonem Kirks from Unicorn survived during the Laplace Conflict. They were really interesting characters so in this story they are alive.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	18. Gnashing Blades

**NA: And here we are once more in this perilous journey of love, war, and many other things that I do not understand or just ignore. Also the fluffiness involved with it, don't mind me I just lost my mind a few minutes ago…. And I got my mind back! HURRAY!**

* * *

**-Story Start-**

**Side 3, Deikun City**

Delegates from Konoha arrived at Deikun city, among them was Minato Namikaze, Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya. They were amazed at the technological marvel of the Principality, able to construct cities in space.

Minato on the other hand was hoping he could meet with Kushina and their daughter; he was desperate to try and talk to them again. He regretted his decision of sealing the Kyuubi into Naruko; he thought the villagers could see past their hate. In the end, it drove Kushina and Naruko away from him. As they arrive at the Sovereign's office, they were greeted by a pregnant Mineva with a warm smile, along with one of her aides.

"Ah, delegates from Konoha welcome to Deikun City." She said as she greeted them with a nod.

The three delegates bowed in greeting to the Sovereign, "We thank you for welcoming us your Highness." Tsunade replied.

Mineva then noticed the blonde man, "And you must be Minato Namikaze, if you are wondering if you could meet Kushina and Marida, you came at the wrong time, they are on a mission on Earth right now."

The three looked at Mineva with a surprised look with their eyebrows raised, "Mission? What do you mean?"

"Kushina joined Zeon's Military, she is now an officer of the Zeon Newtype Corps along with her daughter." The aide beside Mineva told them. To say the delegates from Konoha were shocked was an understatement. Not only did Konoha loose the last of the Uzumakis to Zeon, but they now lost them in terms of military strength. Konoha was becoming a shadow of their former strength.

Tsunade didn't know what to do; the civilian council had been demanding her to take back Kushina and Naruko as they were both Uzumaki and Namikaze. But she already knew that was already impossible, as Zeon's military strength dwarfed all of Pandora's shinobi villages. Their mobile suits alone can burn them down. She just hoped that this meeting would at least go well.

* * *

**Archangel**

**Pacific Ocean within Orb borders, en route to JOSH-A in Alaska**

"Hey, what's wrong with Commander La Flaga?" Tolle quietly asked his friend Kuzzey as they sat eating in the Archangel's mess hall. The usually flamboyant ace pilot seemed rather depressed lately. "He doesn't seem alright. Did the captain shoot him down or something? It's rather obvious that he has it for her."

More than a little embarrassed, Kuzzey promptly shushed his friend before replying "Keep it down would you! Anyway, do you remember a while back the Commander trying to pilot one of those Orb mobile suits?"

After Tolle nodded, Kuzzey continued. "Apparently, he did quite well, pressing that Zeon pilot hard. True, the Zeon mobile suit in question was an outdated model, but both the pilot and that engineer lady were quite impressed."

"So what's the problem?"

"Commander La Flaga wanted to keep the unit, and Morgenroete didn't let him."

"…that's it?" Tolle finally said, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "He's sulking like a kid because he didn't get a mobile suit?" Kuzzey merely shrugged in response.

* * *

**ZAFT Vosgulov-class Submarine Gorolev**

**Pacific Ocean outside Orb borders.**

"What's the situation?" Yzak asked the moment he stepped into the submarine's CIC. The captain, Dearka, Shiho and Nicol were all there, standing around the map table.

"Orb just launched its fleet." Shiho replied with a nod. She still remembers what she and Yzak did a few days ago, but she knew better than to react upon it every time. "Supposedly it's for military exercises, but they usually announce it sometime beforehand, so most likely they're escorting our quarry out of their country."

"That sounds likely." Yzak conceded, after which Dearka spat.

"Dirty bastards; once we get rid of that legged ship, we'll have all the proof we'll need to squeeze the juice out of Orb."

"Get over it, Dearka." Yzak told his best friend, who gave him a shocked look. "Is it really so hard to understand why Orb wants to gain access to mobile suit technology?"

"Well no, but…"

"Put yourself in the Earth Alliance and Orb's shoes, Dearka. After seeing the power of the mobile suit with no immediate counter at hand, wouldn't you want to gain that power yourself before the war ends in defeat?" Yzak pressed, causing Dearka to adopt a trouble expression.

"So basically, you're saying that there's nothing wrong with Orb and the Alliance getting mobile suits?" Nicol asked, also troubled by Yzak's logic, but the silver-haired pilot snorted in response.

"Of course not; from a strategic standpoint, the Alliance in particular getting mobile suits is a disaster. All the same though, it's not something that can be condemned so easily. After all, one reason we developed mobile suits in the first place was to offset the Alliance's superior numbers. And I certainly wouldn't mind facing worthy opponents on even terms."

"No; we'll wait for them here before we launch the attack." Yzak countermanded, before indicating a group of small islands, atolls, and islets a good distance from Orb's waters. "It's perfect for an ambush, as we'll be able to use the terrain for deception tactics and guerilla warfare. The distance in particular should deter Orb from butting in as well. The three of you prepare to launch immediately."

"Roger!" Dearka, Shiho and Nicol responded with matching salutes, though the former had a rather vicious grin on his face.

As they exit the CIC with Dearka and Nicol finally out of sight, Yzak pulled Shiho in for a kiss, which she returned happily "Shiho be careful out there, I don't want to lose you." Yzak told her as they broke away, concern evident on his face.

"Don't worry Yzak, I'll be fine."

"Just be careful, those two green mobile suits could still be with them."

Shiho nods as they went for their respective units, Yzak couldn't help but feel that some of them might not be coming back after this battle.

* * *

**Archangel's Hangar**

"Tolle, are you really sure about this?" Kira asked, very worried for his friend, who at the moment was wearing a pilot suit and was already sitting in a Sky Grasper's cockpit. Mu stood nearby, along with Master Sergeant Murdock, both with worried expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry, I passed the simulator training with flying colours, and besides, I'll only be providing support for the Strike. What could possibly go wrong?" Tolle replied, cheerfully reassuring his friend.

"Tolle…" Kira began to say but broke off when Mu placed a hand on his shoulder, shook his and looked at Tolle.

"If this is your decision, we won't interfere." He told the young man. "As you say, you did complete the simulator, but still… don't get reckless."

"Roger!" Tolle cheerfully replied, but with a tone of seriousness in his voice, simultaneously giving a salute. Mu and Kira nodded, the latter still worried, and then they headed for their respective units.

* * *

"Still no sign of ZAFT?" Murrue asked, still surprised by the lack of an ambush, the moment they had left Orb Union waters.

"None." The reply came, and Murrue shared a worried look with her XO, neither believing that their enemies would just return to Carpentaria when there was a large enough attack window to take advantage of during the relatively short trip from Orb to Alaska.

"Unfortunately, it seems that whatever it is they're planning, we have no choice but to wait for them to make the first move." Natarle said, clearly frustrated and unhappy at the idea of letting the enemy take the initiative. "At the very least, the shallower waters near those islands we'll be passing by shortly should…"

"What's wrong?" Murrue asked, disconcerted by the sight of seeing the usually collected XO now looking at the tactical display with a growing look of alarm on her face.

"Oh shit!" the woman said uncharacteristically, surprising the captain. "It's a trap!"

Almost simultaneously, alarms began to sound from the CIC as the ship's sensors picked up four approaching units. "Four mobile suits closing from multiple directions… one CGUE and the rest are G-Weapons!"

"All hands to stations and issue a Level One Battle Alert!" Murrue ordered, trying to keep the situation under control while the XO pulled herself together.

"Place the Gottfried, Valiant One and Two, all Hell Darts, and the Igelstellung on standby!" Natarle barked out, her iron control now back. "Load all missile tubes with Wombats and standby to engage!"

* * *

The three ZAFT Gundams and the CGUE soared towards the Archangel on their Guuls, Yzak, Shiho and Nicol calm and collected, Dearka all but twitching in anticipation. "I'm detecting three units launching from the legged ship." Nicol called out. "Two fighters… and one mobile suit; it's the Strike!"

"Dearka, we'll leave the ship and those fighters to you." Yzak ordered. "Nicol and I will handle the Strike, Shiho you provide long range fire for us as we engage the Strike!"

"Roger!" Shiho acknowledged.

Without even saying an acknowledgement, Dearka took off. He was furious, filled with pent-up frustration caused by the repeated failures trying to take down the legged ship, and most importantly, angry at the realization that this ship and everything and everyone associated with it was the indirect cause of Yzak's changes. He wanted his old friend back, and whole destroying it would probably not bring back the old Yzak, it would certainly be satisfying. Victory always had a sweet taste.

* * *

Yzak cursed at the sight of Dearka diving in recklessly as the legged ship loosed a storm of beams, bullets, and missiles against the Buster. One of the fighters in particular seemed to be armed with some kind of heavy beam cannon, if the dark red beam lancing through the air in the distance was any indication. Still, he had another matter to attend to: the Strike was now closing on them, firing its beam rifle in an expert firing pattern.

The Duel, the Blitz and the CGUE DEEP arms split up, cornering the Strike between them, using their superior numbers to counter its superior agility, the CGUE DEEP arms began firing its thermal energy cannons from afar. Yzak smiled; the pilot was good, there was no doubt about that. A worthy opponent indeed, as should have been expected from a fellow Coordinator.

* * *

The Buster dodged the legged ship's fire with ease, easily intercepting any incoming missiles. But while they couldn't hurt him, he couldn't hurt them either. At least the ship couldn't. The two fighters swooping around were an entirely different story, however. One of them in particular was quite annoying, with its heavy beam cannon. Dodging its fire and a shot from one of the legged ship's heavy rail-guns, he cursed angrily when a missile from the other fighter exploded against one of his unit's legs. The Phase-Shift Armour may have rendered the explosion moot, but Dearka was no fool. He knew they were aiming for his sub-flight launcher and to force him to retreat.

"You're annoying… try this for size insect!" he shouted defiantly as the Alliance fighter flew by him, simultaneously firing his shoulder-mounted missile pods.

Tolle grimaced as the missiles swarmed after him; after a moment of panic, he remembered a trick he had learned in the simulator. Smiling at the idea, he flew low over the sea, his exhaust throwing up a makeshift shield over the water that detonated the missiles behind him without damaging his unit. As he soared back into the sky, he laughed at his success. Miriallia would always remember him that way. A single missile hadn't been destroyed by the water slammed into the Sky Grasper's fuselage and exploded, turning the aircraft and its pilot into a ball of fire.

"Tolle…!" Miriallia shouted in the CIC as Tolle's signal was lost, her voice filled with utter loss and grief.

"Kid…!" Mu shouted, mirroring the girl in the Archangel's CIC; it wasn't the first time he had lost a colleague, but he would never get used to it. Even more so when that colleague was still young and could have had a bright future ahead of him when the war came to an end.

"One down, two more to go…" Dearka smirked triumphantly, firing his guns expertly and destroying two of the legged ship's point-defence guns.

"You murderous bastard…!" Mu roared, circling around to attack.

* * *

The Duel, the Blitz, and the Strike duelled in the air while the CGUE DEEP Arms fired at the Strike from one of the islands below, green beams crisscrossing the air or dissipating harmlessly against shields. "This is getting annoying." Yzak snarled, getting irritated at the indecisive nature of their battle as the traded fire with one another. Then he realized he should never tempt fate by saying things like that.

"What the hell?" he found himself saying in surprise as the Strike charged at him out of the blue with a beam sabre at the ready. Reflexively, he drew his own beam sabre and parried the stroke, but was sent flying when the Strike literally slammed its shield against him, sending him down towards the island. Using his engines to slow down his descent and to stabilize his unit, Yzak fired a grenade at the Strike the moment he landed, but the Strike shot it down with its Vulcan cannons and charged towards Yzak again.

"Yzak..!" Shiho shouted with worry.

"Stay back!"

"It's the same as that time." Yzak muttered anxiously, his scar prickling as he remembered how he got it in the first place. "What is this guy? One moment he's just like any of us, and then he becomes a monster. Could he be a berserker?" he broke off his musings with a curse as the Strike charged down at him from the sky.

"Yzak…!" Nicol shouted, firing off beams as he closed in, forcing the Strike and its pilot to break off and dodge… before a pinpoint beam destroyed Nicol's shield, the force of the explosion causes him to plummet to the ground as well. As expected, the Strike and its berserker pilot immediately moved to attack, causing Yzak to curse angrily. Nicol was a brilliant pilot, of that there was no doubt that given his red uniform, but he hand never been as skilled as the rest of them, and he even admitted as such.

Before the Strike could engage the Blitz, Yzak charged in from the side and knocked the Blitz out of the way… but lost his unit's right arm in the process. Not satisfied with this, the Strike kicked the Duel and sent it flying into a cliff a good distance away.

Shiho widened her eyes but snarled angrily as she continued to fire her energy cannons at the Strike while approaching the Duel. "Get away from him!"

"Damnation…" Yzak spat, before an alarm caught his attention. Looking its way, he was horrified to see his unit's power level was now dangerously low… which meant that his Phase-Shift Armour was now offline. "…oh shit!"

Once again, the Strike moved to deliver the killing blow was down, discarding its shield and holding a beam sabre two-handed. Landing before the slumped mobile suit, it raised the weapon to stab downwards, only for Nicol to ram the Strike and forced it aside. Almost immediately, he fired his rocket-assisted anchor and forced the Strike even further back a good distance.

"Yzak, Shiho; hurry and get out of here! I'll cover you!" Nicol shouted activating his beam sabre. He knew Shiho was still relatively unscathed, but the CGUE stood no match against the Strike.

"What are you…?"

"Hurry; you're no good dead, and that's what's going to happen if you stay here!"

Cursing, Yzak piloted his unit as Shiho helps him up and move to retreat. "Nicol… don't waste your life."

"Roger!" Nicol replied as he stood his ground while the Strike was moving to engage. Nicol swung his weapon in a broad arc once the enemy mobile suit was in striking range, but it simply used its backpack-mounted engines to quickly hover back out of range before moving in fast and cutting of the Blitz's legs at the knees.

"Oh shit!" Nicol cursed as his unit tumbled to ground, but his attention was drawn to the fact the Strike was now stabbing down at him. Desperately he moved his unit to avoid getting killed by the blow, and was somewhat successful; the Strike missed his unit's chest, destroying only the Blitz's head component.

* * *

Dearka noticing his comrade in trouble, pulled back and charged right at the Strike, his unit missing a left arm and his Phase-Shift Armour deactivated.

"Oh no you don't!" Mu roared as he continued firing at the Buster.

"Nicol…!" Dearka shouted as he landed on the ground running towards the Strike.

Nicol widened his eyes in horror, realizing what Dearka was planning to do, "Dearka! NOOOO!"

Dearka madly grinned as he used the Buster's right arm and latched on to the Strike. "I'm taking you with me you bastard!" he pressed a button and activated his unit's self-destruct.

"Kira! Get out of there!" Mu screamed in horror.

But it was too late. The Buster exploded into a ball of fire, immolating Dearka. Nicol was holding on to dear life as the blast rocked his unit violently.

As the unit tumbled back once more from the blast, it phase-shifted down as the energy supply ran low. Nicol finally opened his cockpit and stepped out as he scans the area, the wreckage of the Strike and Buster but with no sign of their pilots. He spotted the remaining Sky Grasper landing nearby with its pilot exiting and making his way towards him. Nicol made a decision; he removed his helmet and stepped down from his units with his hands held up: he surrendered.

* * *

**Orb**

A Jukon-class submarine docked at Orb, with its commander stepping out to greet the Cruz duo along with Cagalli and her father Uzumi, Erica and Quattro. Marida stepped forward and gave the submarine's commander a hug.

"Loni Garvey, it's been too long." Marida said as she hugs her old friend.

Loni hugged back, "Indeed it has Marida." She replied. After they broke the hug she introduced herself to Erica and Cagalli. "Lieutenant Commander Loni Garvey of the Zeon Amphibious Mobile Suit Corps at your service. We just came here to say hello to our comrades stationed here and to see what Orb is like for ourselves."

Cagalli shook Loni's hand, "Orb welcomes you commander, and it's nice to see our relations with Zeon are going well."

"We were ordered to come here as well, her Highness is becoming very worried as this war progresses, and she fears Orb might get involved either way."

Uzumi nodded in understanding, "While we normally don't accept assistance like this, with the war going out there, I am afraid you may be right. Please, we have much to discuss." Uzumi said as he gestures them to follow him inside.

* * *

**NA: Yep, Nicol was spared instead of Dearka. A lot of stuff is going on now, don't worry Kira isn't dead. I just set him up for his second meeting with Lacus.**

**Loni Garvey, the pilot of the AMA-X7 Shamblo has arrived with a force. With how the Bloody Valentine War is going, they have no doubt that Orb will be under attack thanks to Blue Cosmos.**

**I thought it would be a good idea to show a bit of characters from Konoha once more, this time, they were picked up by transports to meet with Mineva for some more diplomacy.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	19. Ice and Fire Part 1

**NA: I just thought of something, because I like mecha and mechs so much. I'm thinking of brainstorming other ideas! LONG LIVE MECHA!**

* * *

**-Story Start-**

**ZAFT Vosgulov-class Submarine Gorolev**

The mirror on the wall of Yzak's quarters shattered as an enraged Yzak the first thing that came to hand against it in full rage. Then he calmed down, or rather, had his anger snuffed out as though by ice water, as he realized that he had thrown: their graduation picture.

**Flashback**

_"Hurry and send out a search and rescue team!" Yzak ordered as he stood in the submarine's CIC._

_"Belay that order." The captain said from where he stood by the communications console, his voice surprisingly calm._

_Shiho widened her eyes in surprise as well as she walked in._

_"What?" Yzak said in surprise, turning to the captain. "What's the meaning of this captain?"_

_"Precisely what I said." The captain replied. "We've just received priority orders: we are to return to Carpentaria and to join the forces set aside for Operation Spitbreak with all possible speed."_

_"Is that so now? In that case I countermand those orders."_

_"Unfortunately Commander Joule, these orders come directly from Commander Le Creuset, who has been assigned to command the upcoming operation by the Supreme Council itself."_

_"But…!"_

_"Commander Joule; we are fighting a war. As elite pilots, I would have expected that you and your fellow pilots had understood the underlying realities of such situation better."_

_Yzak bit back a sharp retort, clenching his fists in frustration. "Understood; change course immediately, and proceed to Carpentaria at once." He snarled out before storming from the CIC with Shiho following suit._

**Flashback End**

Kneeling down, he carefully picked up the picture from amidst the broken glass and splintered wood that littered the floor. Shiho walks into his room with a worried look, she took his hand as he calls out his name. "Yzak?"

"I failed them Shiho, because of me they're gone."

"Don't say that Yzak! They knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for this mission!" Shiho argued, tears welling in her eyes.

"I know that! But I just can't help but blame myse-" he wasn't able to finish the sentence when Shiho smashed her lips onto his, he was surprised at first but relented as he kisses her back. This time their kisses becoming more hungry and passionate.

"I know you can't help but blame yourself Yzak, but at least let me help you get through this, I hate seeing the man I love like this." She said as she slowly unbuttons her uniform while kissing him passionately as she leads him to bed.

* * *

**Island outside Orb borders**

The helicopter landed on the barren coast of the barely-habitable island while an Orb cruiser and four destroyers warily cruised nearby. Several soldiers jumped out, along with a certain blonde man wearing glasses and Cagalli. The island suffered a lot of damage from an explosion that much is certain.

Cagalli was searching frantically as she recognized one of the wreckage that was identified to be the Strike. "Kira! Kira where are you!?" she continues to shout for her friend's name but to no avail.

Quattro scanned the area once more and spots one more wreckage, that at least a ZAFT Gundam has been destroyed. Quattro knew he shouldn't be surprised, but he was nonetheless. Of course a destroyed mobile suit wouldn't cause as much damage as it should, considering that one of the pilots might have activated their self-destruct sequence. "Did you find anything?" he shouted.

Lieutenant Colonel Ledonir Kisaka shook his head before replying "Nothing; just bits and pieces and no bodies. At the very least, we know that the Archangel was able to survive and escape, unfortunately they lost the Strike and probably its pilot as well. We weren't able to know which of the ZAFT G-Weapons was destroyed."

"I see." Quattro replied, taking off his sunglasses. It was unfortunate that Kira was lost in the battle, he had a bright future ahead of him. He turned once more, looking around the beach and then to the north, to Alaska. "JOSH-A, Jaburo, so similar and yet so different…" he quietly mused. "…but which battle it will resemble, I wonder? Will it be similar to the way things went back during the One Year War, or will it be like during the Gryps Conflict?"

* * *

**Archangel Brig**

It had been two days since he had been captured, and by his knowledge of geography he knew they would be arriving in Alaska later today. His capture wasn't all that bad at first, until two women, one with light brown hair tried to kill him with a knife, and then a red haired one with a gun. He was fortunate no one really got hurt besides a cut on Nicol's cheek.

The brown haired one came to his cell with his food, he knew she wouldn't have come unless she had some questions.

"Here's your food…" the brown haired woman said, Nicol looked at her nodding gratitude. "I'm… I'm sorry I tried to kill you back there."

"It's okay, I understand how you feel, you must have lost someone didn't you?"

She nodded, "Did you see Sky Grasper when you were fighting?"

"…A…Sky Grasper?" Nicol tilted his head in confusion.

"A fighter plane." The woman replied.

"Oh, for a few seconds yes, before one of them was shot down by my teammate Dearka." Nicol replied when he widened his eyes in realization, one of the fighter pilots must have been her friend, or maybe something more…

"Oh I see, I'm guessing this Dearka survived?" her voice raised a bit in anticipation.

Nicol shook his head, "No, he rushed into my assistance when my unit was disabled by the Strike, Dearka…the pilot of the Buster latched onto the Strike and… activated his self-destruct sequence, killing them both. I'm sorry; I don't know what Dearka was thinking, ever since a few months ago Dearka got more bloodthirsty than ever, he was itching to take down this ship more than ever."

That made the girl think, this Dearka person who killed Tolle killed himself so he can at least kill Kira, why would he do that? "I'm Miriallia… Miriallia Haw."

"Nicol, Nicol Amalfi, nice to meet you miss Haw." Nicol said with a genuine smile on his face. That caused Miriallia to raise her brows in surprise.

"You're quite accepting and forgiving about all of this, after I tried to kill you especially."

"There's really no point in complaining about all of this, the minute I wore this uniform, I knew what I was getting into, either getting killed in action, or getting captured. Such is war unfortunately."

"Yeah… the pilot of the Sky Grasper, Tolle, he was my boyfriend…"

Nicol was taken aback about how open she is being right now, "Oh I see, I'm sorry for your loss." He looked down.

Miriallia shook her head, "Don't be, like you said…Tolle knew what he was getting into when he stepped into the cockpit. Thank you for forgiving me, and having the time to talk to me."

"I'll be here if you want to talk some more Miss Haw." Nicol replied, smiling at the woman.

"Miriallia… just Miriallia is fine, as long as I get to call you by your first name." she said as she smiled back, this Coordinator wasn't as bad as she thought, for a ZAFT soldier he was a gentle person. He didn't even look like a soldier with that attitude of his.

"Okay… Miriallia."

* * *

**PLANTS**

Kira woke up on a bed with bandages around his body, he opened his eyes noticing a familiar pink Haro. He then hears a familiar angelic voice…

"Oh my! Now why would you do that? You're being naughty Mr. Green. I won't play with you again if this keeps up."

Kira turns his head finding familiar pink hair approaching him…

"Hm? Mr. Pink don't go there! Come back!" she rushes off towards him trying to catch the pink Haro. As the Haro lands on his bed, she picks it up and notices Kira opening his eyes.

"Good morning sleepyhead!"

"…Lacus…?"

* * *

**JOSH-A Earth Alliance Headquarters**

**Alaska**

The main gates leading into the immense underground fortress that was JOSH-A slowly ground open as the Archangel and six escorting destroyers sailed towards it. At the same time, several people were viewing the scene and reviewing large amounts of collected information in a shadowed room somewhere in the fortress.

"The Archangel…to think that it actually made it this far." One man ventured happily.

"I certainly never expected it to come here, but now that it is, what do we do about it?" a second man asked.

"Before that…" a third person, a woman this time, spoke up. "…about the destruction of the Strike, along with its Coordinator pilot, Kira Yamato."

"The G-Weapons are our vanguard!" The first man responded vehemently. "A Coordinator should not be allowed to pilot one of those units!"

"Well, it doesn't really matter by this point, that Coordinator perished along with his unit." The fourth person interjected lazily. Despite his irreverent tone, everyone in the room automatically differed to his judgement. After all, Muruta Azrael wasn't just the Director of the National Defence Industry Commission but also the leader of Blue Cosmos. "We already have three new G-Weapons that should surpass the first five that were made in Heliopolis. And the demise of the Coordinator Kira Yamato is a… fortunate accident, and a suitable reward for him for helping us I suppose."

"That's true…" the second man nodded in assent. "…now that we have the Forbidden, the Raider, and the Calamity, the rest of the remaining enemy G-Weapons are all but useless. All we need is the combat data from it and the recovered Blitz and we can put the Strike Dagger into mass production and accelerate the development of our other prototypes."

"Speaking of which…" the fifth person, another woman, spoke up. "…what do we do about what's left of the Blitz?"

"We leave it be." Azrael said. "As long as we have its data, we don't actually need that pile of junk."

"That should be fine, I suppose." The first man grudgingly conceded, causing Azrael to briefly glance in his direction. "What of the rest of the crew?"

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Natarle Badgiruel may yet prove useful." The first woman replied. "She doesn't seem to be as…tainted, as the rest of the crew are."

"Flay Allster as well…" Azrael noted with a smirk and a bit of satisfaction. "…She still retains her hatred for Coordinators, so we can use her as well."

"Then we can take these two and leave the rest of crew to die in a blaze of glory." The sixth man finally said. "The Cyclops System is already finished and is ready for activation at any time. All we have to do now is wait."

"I don't like the idea of senselessly sacrificing the 'Hawk of Endymion' so readily." The second woman protested. "Tainted though he may be, his talents may yet have use for us."

"How do you propose we do so?" Azrael asked, amused by the idea. "I don't think we can trust him to pilot one of our units, let alone a G-Weapon, regardless of his abilities."

"I wouldn't trust him either on the battlefield." She replied with a shrug. "I say we put him in a flight school somewhere where we can isolate him from the military hierarchy and at the same time continue to take advantage of his abilities."

"That sounds good to me." Azrael agreed approvingly, before turning to the sixth man. "Oh, and regarding that prisoner, tempting though it may be, I don't think we need another 'Combat Coordinator' by this point. After all, we've already spent so much money on the Extended Humans, so why don't we just leave him as he is already?"

"If you believe that to best, then so be it." The second man agreed.

"Very good…" Azrael said, standing up. "…I'll leave putting all this into motion to you people, as I have other matters to attend to."

"Just leave it to us…" the sixth man said with a smile. "…rest assured, everything will go according to plan, for the sake of our blue and pure world."

* * *

**PLANT**

Kira was looking out from a balcony in Lacus' home, remembering Tolle's death and the many people he has killed.

Lacus approached him with a worried look, "Oh Kira, you look like you had such sad dreams."

He looked at her then looked back at the coast, "I am sad. Many people have died, and I have killed a lot of people as well." Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked down in shame.

Lacus caressed his head as she spoke up, "You had to fight as hard as you could, you protected many things, I'm positive of that. But now…" Kira then looked at her. Over the few days he was with her, they had gotten close, probably those feelings could be something more.

She clasped her hands "…let's have something to eat shall we? You must be starving, c'mon I'll go reheat the food!" she wrapped her arms around his as she led him back.

"But…"

"No problem! No problem…" Mr. Pink suddenly said.

"Besides you still need to be getting your rest." Lacus interjected.

"I won't accept that…I won't accept that!" Mr. Pink said as he followed the two back.

"It'll be okay, this is still a place of peace." She finally said, her arms still around Kira's as they walk up the stairs.

* * *

**NA: Well Azrael finally shows his ugly ass face. Kira is presumed dead by his allies while he is actually with Lacus in PLANT thanks to being rescued by her and her friends.**

**And some more Yzak and Shiho fluff! Just more intimate this time. Yes they will probably be the cutest couple in this fanfic. Yes they will be together forever!**

**The battle of Jabur-*ahem* JOSH-A will commence soon!**

**I might make the pairing with Nicol and Miriallia. It would be interesting.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	20. Ice and Fire Part 2

**NA: Five days till Clan Mechs in Mechwarrior Online! WOOOOH!**

* * *

**-Story Start-**

**Earth Sphere**

**Abandoned Colony Mendel**

The Rewloola-class Battle Cruiser slowly entered the abandoned colony's spaceport, escorted by three Geara Zulu mobile suits. The captain looked out over the debris-strewn spaceport as he floated on the bridge; as the ship stopped moving and docked with Mendel, he opened a channel. "Commander Puru…" he said. "…we've completed docking procedures."

"Understood…" Lieutenant Commander Elpeo Puru Two replied from her unit's cockpit. "…it seems that at the very least the spaceport remains usable. What's Mendel like inside?"

"Scans indicate minimal life signs; basically the colony is barren, but barely habitable."

"I see." Puru Two replied, before bringing her red Qubeley online. "I'll go on ahead and scout the colony." In response, the Rewloola-class' hangar doors slid open and two Jagd Dogas moved into position behind her. "Just make sure to keep up." She told the Newtype Corps pilots before she gently floated out of the hangar; once clear of the ship, she blasted off to the rear of the spaceport where a massive door leading into the colony automatically opened at their approach.

The abandoned colony was a virtual wasteland, any sign of Human habitation since lost to the artificially maintained elements. Even that was starting to slip; their sensors detected that the colony's life support systems and environment controls were barely functioning as it was. "Intelligence must be slipping when they said this place had some sort of advanced technology to be salvaged." Puru Two whispered, fiddling with her sensor controls, when they detected something… unusual."

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, she immediately closed her eyes and focused her powers on what her Qubeley had detected… and immediately fell to gasping, one hand rising grab left temple in an instinctive response to pain, while the other subconsciously move d to hold her abdomen. "What the hell was that?"

Cursing, she immediately changed course and headed for whatever it was that she sensed; after several minutes of flying, she spotted a cluster of the buildings in the distance and again raised an eyebrow in surprise. Slowly landing amidst the buildings, she noticed that all but one of the structures was in ruins, which meant that the lone standing structure was not only solidly built, but was probably meant to house something important. _"Perhaps Intelligence wasn't wrong after all…" _she thought with a smile. "Captain, send out additional mobile suits as well as ground troops to secure the area; I may have found something." She radioed back.

"Understood Commander, standby." The captain responded.

"Spread out and look for anything suspicious." She ordered the two Jagd Dogas that had escorted her. She however, remained in front of the main building, unexplainably puzzled by why she was so drawn to this place. Ten minutes later, several shuttles and three Geara Zulus arrived. The latter immediately joined the Jagd Dogas out on patrol, while three squads armed with assault rifles and automatic grenade launchers wearing normal suits poured out of the former. Pulling out and double-checking an SMG, she deactivated her unit before leaving the cockpit and joining the troops on the ground.

"Sergeant Major…" she ordered. "…send two squads to secure the upper levels. You and your squad are coming with me."

"Understood, commander." The man replied, relaying the orders before turning back to Puru Two. "Where will we be going commander?"

"The lower levels of the structure are shielded from sensors." She replied, walking towards the yawning doors followed by the soldiers. "Whatever this place is, it was built to last, and whatever is under it was not meant to be found."

Gulping at his misgivings about going into a place that in all likelihood was probably not so different from one of the gassed colonies back to the One Year War, the man and his soldiers followed the young Cyber-Newtype as she walked into the building. Two squads peeled off after they entered, while Puru Two and the third squad cautiously searched for a way down. When they finally found it, Marida was rather surprised by the sign that identified underground facilities were. "Hibiki Genetic Labs…?" she wondered out loud. "Blue Cosmos aside, what's so secret about a genetics laboratory?"

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, she immediately went down to the underground genetic facilities with all possible speed, where she took in the sight of the cloning tanks, as well as the displays of showing Human embryos kept from death by the advanced technology around them.

"What in God's name have we stumbled on?" the Sergeant Major gasped in horror at the sight, while all the other soldiers had looks of horror clearly visible through their helmets. Puru Two however, merely stowed her weapon before removing her helmet and running a hand through her orange hair. Taking a deep breath and noting the dry and all but lifeless quality of the air, she smiled, though her eyes retained their usual coldness. "Well now…" she said wryly, looking around her with something akin to nostalgia. "…I don't know about you, but this certainly feels very familiar. Somehow, it almost feels like coming home."

* * *

**Archangel**

**Earth Alliance Headquarters JOSH-A**

"The Archangel's resupply and maintenance are proceeding well, I take it?" Mu asked as he walked beside Murrue towards the exit, the bag carrying his personal belongings stowed over a shoulder. Murrue sighed at the obvious nature of the question, not even bothering to answer it and instead continued to brood over the state of things. Yesterday's inquiry regarding their actions en route to Alaska had not gone well, the Alaskan Command Staff spinning all their experiences as an 'unfotunate' consequence of the 'unnatural' influence of Kira Yamato, despite the fact they would never have gotten here without his efforts.

When the late Admiral Halberton had told her about Alaska's mismanagement of the war, she had assumed some sort of bureaucratic pandering, but she had never expected Blue Cosmos to have extended its influence this far, so much so that she began to have second thoughts regarding the Earth Alliance and its cause. There were a few other surprises as well; the reassignment of the Archangel to the Alaskan Defence Force despite primarily being a space warship. And there was the matter of the transfers… Natarle, Flay and Mu being transferred off the ship, the former two to head back to the moon and the latter to a flight school in California.

"Captain Ramius, Commander La Flaga…" Lieutenant Natarle Badgiruel called out to them from the exit. "…I appreciate everyone coming to see us off, but at this rate we'll miss our transport."

"Oh that's right." Mu said, looking at his watch. "Well then, this is goodbye I suppose." He said, looking at the captain, before he grimaced. "I still don't understand though; why do they want me to teach in California?"

"Well, with you teaching them your techniques, we might be able to reduce the casualties on the battlefield." She replied, smiling indulgently. He merely snorted in response, before sighing and giving her a salute.

"I hope we get to see each other again someday." He told her glumly, and she returned the salute somewhat sadly.

As he, Flay and Natarle turned to walk away, Murrue called out to the other woman. "Natarle, before you go, I just want you to know that despite all our clashes, I still appreciate everything you've done for this ship and everyone on it. Good luck, I just know you'll make an excellent captain when the time comes."

Natarle looked at the captain, before she too sighed and saluted somewhat regretfully. While it was true that she clashed with many of the other woman's views, she also respected her inner strength and abilities. "Thank you captain; I too hope we can meet again someday, perhaps somewhere other than the battlefield. Goodbye and good luck."

* * *

**Unknown location**

"It won't be long now…" Captain William Sutherland said to Azrael as he walked with the rest of the Atlantic Federation Staff into their waiting submarine. "…ZAFT will be throwing almost everything they have against us. Neither the Eurasians nor the Strike and that ship will hold for more than a few hours."

"What are the expected losses for the enemy?"

"At least 50%... at most, total…" the man replied with a cold smile, something that blonde businessman reciprocated.

* * *

**JOSH-A**

"So where's your transport?" Natarle asked Mu as they reached her designated transport, who fumbled around pulling out a folded piece of paper that later turned out to be his transfer orders. "Let's see, loading bay 49…"

"It's that way." Natarle pointed out, and the man flashed a grateful smile. To her surprise, he offered her a friendly hand.

"I guess this is goodbye, but if so, then good luck Lieutenant, and take care of Flay will you?" He told her as they shook their hands. She nodded, giving a grateful smile before she and Flay turned and headed for their transport. Once they were out of sight, Mu immediately headed back the way he came. _"That Zeon pilot told me to trust my sensitivity before we left Orb…" _he thought darkly as he ran down the half-deserted hallways back to the Archangel. _"…then if I'm right, something bad is going to happen, and I need to be in the Archangel!"_

Unknown to most of the people still at Alaska, at the moment, a vast fleet of ZAFT submarines was closing in on Alaska under the water, while high in the upper atmosphere, atmospheric carriers lumbered towards their target. In space, shrouded by heavy N-Jammer interference, ZAFT mobile suits entered their drop pods as the fleet awaited final orders.

* * *

**Jachin Due**

In his command centre in the ZAFT asteroid fortress of Jachin Due, PLANT Supreme Chairman Patrick Zala stood up and addressed all the ZAFT personnel in the room and those awaiting their orders elsewhere. "It is my sincere hope that this battle will bring about a quick end to this war, and usher a new era of freedom and Justice. Commence Operation Spitbreak, target: Joint Supreme Headquarters Alaska!"

* * *

**Side 3 Shipyards**

Mineva, the Zeon Mining Minister, and several senators were inspecting the massive Jupitris-class mining vessels now approaching completion Side 3's shipyards. "The Mining Fleet will be completed on schedule as expected." The foreman said, pleased by the way things were going.

Mineva nodded, when her communicator caught her attention. "This is Sovereign Zabi and company; what's happening?"

"Your Highness, ZAFT's launched Operation Spitbreak! However, the target isn't Panama, it's Alaska!"

"What?" Mineva said, shocked by this news. "Understood, I'm on my way."

"Your Highness, please be on our way. You have more important matters to attend to, and we can continue the inspection on our own." A senator told her, and with a nod Mineva made her way back.

* * *

**PLANT **

**Clyne Residence**

"The Council didn't approve of this Siegel! Patrick intends to destroy the Earth Alliance leadership in one fell swoop!" Councillor Canaver told Siegel Clyne via vid-phone.

"That's assuming the Alliance didn't see this coming!" Siegel said, breaking out in a cold sweat. Kira who overheard the news was shocked, his friends were at JOSH-A and he was all the way over here. Lacus tries to comfort him as they hear more of the conversation.

"If you're right, then Patrick will probably use us as scapegoats. He's gambling everything on such a risky operation."

"I know that!" Siegel said, taking several deep breaths in an effort to calm down. "I have no choice; can you handle things here?"

"If I have to…" the woman replied worriedly.

"Good; then I'll leave watching over PLANT to you." He told her, before turning the vid-phone off and looking at Lacus and the young man she seems to be interested in. He sighed at this, Lacus may have finally found the person she might spend the rest of her life with, but because of this war, he feared it might not happen.

* * *

**Few minutes later**

Kira was looking out into the distance when he noticed Lacus approaching him, he turned around with tears in his eyes, "It's time… I left here."

"Oh… where were you thinking of going?" Lacus asked.

"I have to return to Earth."

"Why? Even if you go, you can't end the war by yourself."

Kira nodded, "I know, but I can't just stay here, doing nothing."

Lacus looked in worry, she didn't want him to go, but she knew that he made a decision. Kira then continued.

"I now have a clear understanding, of what we should be fighting against."

Lacus finally smiled, "Very well, I understand."

* * *

**PLANT Mobile Suit Hangars**

Lacus gave Kira a red ZAFT uniform for him as a disguise, Lacus decided that she would help him get to his friends and help them. As they floated down to their destination, passing by other ZAFT officers with a salute as to not arouse suspicion. Two men were at a door when Lacus gave them a nod, making them swipe their security cards that opened the door. They made their way through the door in what appears to be a dark area.

They stop at the centre when the lights turned on, revealing a new mobile suit model, causing Kira to gasp in surprise "A Gundam!"

Lacus smiles at the comment, "Actually that's not what it's called. This is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. But you know, Gundam sounds better because it sounds more powerful." She said as she giggles. After she stops giggling she continues, "Under orders from Chairman Zala, they designed a new mobile suit with the same capabilities as the Alliance mobile suits they captured, and then added state of the art mobile suit technology to it."

Kira then tilts head, "But why… are you letting me?"

"I feel this machine will have the power you're going to need. Neither will alone, nor strength alone, will be enough. That's why."

They look at the machine once again as Lacus continues, "Will this take you to where you want to go, will it when you get there?"

Kira turns once again to the pink-haired young woman, "Who are you really?"

She giggles, "I am simply Lacus Clyne, and you are Kira Yamato."

"I'm grateful." Kira said as they floated over to the Freedom's cockpit entrance. "Are you sure?" he asked her.

"Yes, I too will be singing the great song of peace." Lacus said, causing Kira to smile.

"Be careful."

"I will, you too Kira. My strength goes with you." Lacus said as she kisses Kira on the lips, he widens his eyes first but in the end he kisses back. "Just promise me you will be careful Kira, because after the time we have spent together… I love you." Kira smiles at her as he takes her hand once more.

"I love you too Lacus, and I promise I will be careful." As Kira enters the cockpit, he looks at Lacus once again waving a goodbye as the door closes.

_"Neither will alone, nor strength alone."_

As the Freedom roars to life, he punches it. His new mobile suit flies off out into space heading for Earth. His destination: The Archangel.

* * *

**NA: YES! Lacus and Kira finally kiss! You happy? I made them get together this early in the story because Athrun is no longer a factor between them. WOOOHOOO! And Flay is out of the way… I hate her.**

**Kira finally gets the Freedom.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	21. Ice and Fire Part 3

**NA: And the final part of Ice and Fire begins! Huzzah!**

* * *

**JOSH-A**

**Archangel**

In the deserted and shadow-shrouded Joint Operation in JOSH-A, a singly console flashed out warning as it displayed the sensor shadows of ZAFT submarines, drop pods, and atmospheric carriers closing in multiple directions and already well with the outer defence perimeter. Normally, this would have the control personnel up and about setting off alarms and deploying the Alaskan Defence Force, but there was no one to see, no one to care.

As the sensor shadows passed the inner defence perimeter, automatic failsafe systems came online and alarms began to scream across the underground fortress. "It's already started, damn it!" Mu snarled as he ran down the deserted corridors back to the Archangel.

High above the frozen landscape, ZAFT drop pods burst open, and GINNS and CGUEs began to free-fall. Automatic defence turrets opened up, inflicting casualties but they were quickly silenced by the ZAFT mobile suits due to the lack of swift and proper support. Out to sea, large numbers of submarines surfaced and launched their DINNs while others remained submerged to launch GOOhNs and ZnOs, even as more GINNs and CGUEs free-fall from the atmospheric carriers. The Alaskan Defence Force finally began to respond in force, but they were clearly outnumbered, with most of the forces supposed to be assigned to the defence of JOSH-A having been sent to Panama.

"Captain Sutherland; what's happening? Wasn't ZAFT's target supposed to be Panama?" Murrue asked her superior officer, not knowing the man was already well away from the doomed fortress.

"They've tricked us. They made us think their next target is Panama, but their real goal turned out to be Headquarters. We've no choice; we have to hold the line until reinforcements arrive. The Archangel is to Launch immediately!" Captain Sutherland ordered, before the communication was cut.

"Captain, we have no choice of winning!" Ensign Neumann said, turning to face the captain. "We're vastly outnumbered, and it's unlikely we'll be able to hold the line long enough for reinforcements to arrive!"

Kuzzey then spoke up as well, "How can we do this without Kira and the Commander!?"

"I know that!" Murrue said, sitting down on her commander chair. "Even so, issue Level One Battle Alert, and prepare to engage! Launch the Archangel!"

* * *

**Side 3**

**Zeon Command Centre**

"What's the situation?" Mineva demanded as she entered the Zeon Command Centre. The control personnel were already hard at work, monitoring ZAFT and Alliance communications as well as overseeing the defence lines and communication shrouds around and over Side 3 as providing state of the art live feed thanks to their vast communications networks deployed all the way to the Earth Sphere from Jupiter.

"Your Highness ZAFT has launched a massive offensive against Earth Alliance Headquarters." The latter replied after a salute, while the Prime Minister simply gave a bow. "As best we can tell, they're throwing everything they've got against the fortress. As for the Alliance, they seem to have been caught with their back turned to so to speak, with most of their readily available reinforcements already at or en route to Panama."

"What's your tactical prediction?" Mineva asked, transfixing the admiral with her gaze.

"At first glance, a complete ZAFT victory." The man replied after a short pause. "However, the PLANT leadership is blinded by their belief in their complete and utter superiority over the Naturals, even more so now that Patrick Zala is in control. I find it unlikely that the Earth Alliance would fall for such a basic diversionary tactic."

"So?"

"…the Second Battle of Jaburo." The admiral finally replied after a short pause, causing the young Sovereign's eyes to widen in horror before they narrowed in disgust.

"Patrick Zala is a fool…" she spat. "…he's throwing away the lives of his men in the depths of his arrogant blindness. The man is no different from my accursed uncle."

"To be fair your Highness, Patrick Zala's wife did die in the Bloody Valentine…" a nearby officer attempted to intercede only for the Sovereign to interrupt.

"That is no excuse." Mineva said firmly. "If he really is driven by revenge rather than being motivated by the needs of his nation, the man is nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a military commander, much less a national leader."

"There is another issue though, your Highness." A nearby officer said, causing all eyes to turn to him.

"According to our data, all the troops and officers sent to Panama were from the Atlantic Federation." The man continued. "The rest of the Alaskan Defence Force personnel left behind are composed of Eurasians. Given that both the Eurasians and the East Asians are on the brink of military exhaustion, then even if the Alliance annihilates the ZAFT attackers, the Atlantic Federation will have gained complete control of the Earth Forces."

"And by extension, so will Blue Cosmos." Mineva said softly while nodding thoughtfully before smiling. The smile caused several of the older officers to raise eyebrows, as for a moment it seemed to them that Haman Karn was standing among them once again. "I'm impressed; if this is true then Blue Cosmos and the Atlantic Federation are certainly craftier than I ever expected from a bunch of fanatics. They may yet become our long-term enemies, but for now our concern will be that insane 'superman' holding court in PLANT."

"But the question remains…" the Prime Minister pointed out. "…N-Jammers ensure that nuclear weapons cannot be used, apart from our own laser-detonated fusion explosives, so how does the Alliance intend to destroy the attackers?"

As all eyes turned to the massive displays in the command centre, Mineva voiced everyone's answer. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see what the Alliance has up its sleeve."

* * *

**JOSH-A**

**Joint Operations Room**

Rau Le Creuset was standing in the Joint Operations Room, hacking his way through the firewalls until he finally found what he was looking for, causing him to smile cruelly. Then he quickly turned and fired off several shots from his SMG, causing Mu to duck back behind the door frame. "I'm certainly surprised to see you here, Mu La Flaga!" Rau taunted, his gun still aimed at the door. "But if you're here then it must mean your usefulness to the Earth Alliance has reached its end. Oh 'Hawk of Endymion' how the mighty have fallen!"

"Shut up!" Mu shouted back, before jumping out and firing off several shots, but the masked man had already fled through another door. Running over to the console Rau was using, he was shocked and horrified by what he saw. "This is… damn it I need to get to the Archangel!"

* * *

**JOSH-A**

**Battlefield**

"Gottfried, Valiant, fire…!" Murrue ordered, and a moment later, the guns fired, destroying several of the slow-in-atmosphere GINNS and CGUEs. "What's the status of the fleet?"

"The Defence Fleet is at seventy percent combat capability!"

"Has there been any word from Panama or the Join Operations Room?"

"None; all channels are repeating the same orders: hold position and await reinforcements!"

"Reinforcements my ass…" Neumann shouted in frustration as he banked the hip to evade several incoming missiles which were shot down by the Archangel's point defence guns. "…if they don't get here in the next hour, then all they'll be able to do is bury our bodies!"

"Captain, we have multiple DINNS closing from port!"

"Wombats and Hell Darts, fire…!"

* * *

**JOSH-A**

**Flight Hangar**

Mu La Flaga ran out of the elevator and into the hangar even as a nearby explosion filled the area with smoke. Coughing, he ran up to a nearby Spearhead but not before telling an NCO to evacuate as soon as possible, only for the shell-shocked man to run screaming.

"I guess I'm not really cut out to be a hero…" he lamented, turning on the aircraft when something tugged at his mind. Instinctively, he fired a pair of missiles and destroyed an approaching DINN before it could even land in the hangar. "…although I have to say these Newtype abilities sure do come in handy!"

* * *

**ZAFT Vosgulov-class Submarine Gorolev**

Rau stepped out of his custom-coloured DINN and back into the flagship submarine. "Commander…!" he heard someone shout out to him, and he turned to see Yzak leaning against the rail while the Duel was being resupplied nearby. "…back so soon?"

Rau raised an eyebrow at Yzak's slightly sarcastic question; the young man had been increasingly taciturn recently, and had been heard whispering doubts about the way the war was going. Rau inwardly sighed, the boy would have made useful pawn, but it seemed he was starting to think for himself and would have to be dealt with accordingly. The boy was smart, and apparently was starting to suspect him of ulterior motives, though he couldn't understand why. And it seems he has formed some sort of relationship with his fellow pilot Shiho Hahnenfuss.

"Yzak, once your unit is finished with maintenance, you and Shiho are to proceed to the main gate; with the presence of the legged ship, our forces thus far been unable to break through." He ordered, ignoring the boy's earlier question.

"Understood, Commander…" Yzak coldly responded with a salute.

* * *

**JOSH-A **

**Battlefield**

"Where… there it is…!" Mu said triumphantly, seeing the Archangel and what was left of the Defence Fleet holding around the main gate. Most of the auxiliary gates had already fallen, and a significant number of ZAFT units had already entered the fortress. Mu banked and changed course for the Archangel, a DINN began to fire at him, one of the shots clipping and damaging his unit.

"Captain, we have a friendly unit closing!"

"What the… is he actually trying to land?" Murrue stammered out in shock before she opened a line to Sergeant Murdock. "Hurry and get the crash gear up; some numbnut pilot is trying to land!"

"I only have one shot at this…" Mu growled as he piloted his unit into the Archangel's port hangar and crash landed with an all but bone-breaking sensation. Without waiting for any prompting, he jumped out of the cockpit to the surprise of all the tech crews and ran all the way to the bridge.

"What the hell are you doing here Commander?" Murrue shouted at him, though her eyes seemed to brighten at the sight of him. Gratifying though that was, Mu knew he didn't have any time to waste.

"Captain we have to get out of here!" he told her to her shock and surprise. "We've been tricked, all of us. The skeleton forces left here are only meant to be bait to draw ZAFT in to be destroyed by a Cyclops System right under the fortress! I've seen it myself; the Joint Operations Room is completely deserted!"

"Captain, the Defence Fleet is at forty-five percent combat capability!"

"But that's…" Murrue stammered out, in shock at the betrayal by their superiors.

"Captain…!"

Making a decision and gritting her teeth, she snarled out "Signal all ships, commence retreat! We've done all we can here, and now we're to focus all our efforts in breaking out of the ZAFT blockade!"

"I'm heading out as well." Mu said with a nod, before turning and leaving the bridge.

As Mu headed out of the bridge, a single GINN broke through the defences and pointed its machine gun at the Archangel's bridge. As it pulled the trigger, a beam bisected the weapon in half, saving the Archangel. Up from above came a white mobile suit with eight wings. Yzak and Shiho were surprised at the sight.

"Yzak! What was that?" Shiho stuttered.

"A new mobile suit?" Yzak gasped.

"This is Kira Yamato, I'll cover you. Meanwhile, please withdraw to safety!"

Miriallia perked up, "Kira?"

"It is Kira!" Sai said happily.

"Our Kira?" Murrue couldn't believe whose voice she was hearing.

Kira went into SEED mode and activated his targeting computer, acquiring all those who are firing at him and the Archangel. As all targets locked, he fired at enemy mobile suits, destroying their heads and weapons while preventing the deaths of the pilots.

"Stop wasting time and withdraw immediately!" Kira ordered.

"Yes well… there's a Cyclops… beneath Headquarters… we were just bait… they planned this we had no idea!" Murrue stuttered with dread on her face.

Kira gasped as he acquired more targets while opening a channel to both sides, "Attention to all ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces, in any moment now the Cyclops System will activate and the Alaska base will self-destruct! Both sides cease fighting and withdraw from the area immediately!"

Yzak and Shiho gasped as well as the rest of the ZAFT forces, while Kira repeated himself, "I repeat, in any moment now the Cyclops System will activate and the Alaska base will self-destruct! Both sides cease fighting and withdraw from the area immediately!"

"Yzak what if he says is true! Look the Earth Alliance forces are evacuating!" Shiho tried to reason with her fellow pilot and lover.

Yzak gritted his teeth, it was obvious that this could be another trick, but is it really worth taking that chance? "Dammit, all mobile suits withdraw and cease fighting!"

* * *

**Alliance Submarine**

**Unknown location**

But it was already too late; at the moment, aboard an Alliance submarine well away from the battlefield, two keys were slid into activation consoles.

"It is my hope that this act will bring about a quick end to this war." The admiral holding one key said.

"For the sake of our blue and pure world…" Captain Sutherland whispered as held the other key. "…three, two, one…" at the same time, the two men turned their keys and activated the Cyclops System. Immediately, intense microwave radiation began to surge out from deep underground.

* * *

**JOSH-A**

**Battlefield**

"We've detected powerful microwaves from underneath the fortress… Captain, it's the Cyclops!"

"All ships, all ahead full!"

"Oh shit! All units, full retreat!" Yzak ordered in horror as his sensors also detected the intense radiation. Across the battlefield, all Alliance and ZAFT personnel turned to flee, only for the their bodies to reduced to bloody vapour in moments, followed seconds later by their vehicles, ships, and aircraft exploding as the intense radiation affected them as well. ZAFT mobile suits were no exception either and Yzak found his Guul getting clipped by the radiation surge. "GAH!" he shouted as the Guul exploded and the Duel began to fall back into the radiation. Shiho widened her eyes in horror and shouted his name.

"YZAK!"

"Hang on, I've got you!" Kira said, catching the Duel's hand and dragging it behind the Freedom through the air back to the Archangel, Shiho and her CGUE followed suit, wanting to know if her lover is okay.

"Oh man…" Yzak lamented, opening his visor and rubbing his eyes wearily, he just nearly died, and that does not bode well for him. "…Shiho is going to kill me." Behind them, the entire fortress and surrounding landscape exploded in nuclear fire from the sheer intensity of the radiation surge.

* * *

**ZAFT Vosgulov-class Submarine Gorolev**

"No…" the captain of the ZAFT flagship said, looking at the screen showing the complete destruction of not just JOSH-A, but approximately eighty percent of their deployed forces.

"…it would seem that we have fallen into the Earth Forces' trap." Rau Le Creuset said with his typical calmness, though no one noticed the faint but satisfied smile that graced the ZAFT Commander's face for a moment.

* * *

**NA: Well there you have it, the end of the battle of JOSH-A, along with its complete destruction. Yzak and Shiho are now at the Archangel, setting them up to join the Three Ship's Alliance later on!**

**Kira and the Freedom has arrived!**

**Don't' forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	22. Reunion and Coming Storm

**NA: Finally the battle of JOSH-A is done. I am also really mad; I was in a Roleplay Forum for Warframe, and my fellow RPers screwed me over, because of them I can't post in the roleplay thread for an unknown time. So I am really angry, but thankfully I still have you guys and this fanfic.**

**I thank you guys once again, 70+ reviews, this means a lot. **

**Onwards with the story!**

* * *

**Uncharted Islet **

**Hundreds of miles from JOSH-A**

The Archangel flew low over the ocean, while the Sky Grasper, the Duel, a blue CGUE, and the Freedom sat on a small and rocky islet nearby. Mu La Flaga stood near his plane and watched the aurora play a stark dissonance on the brilliant blue sky while a mushroom cloud slowly dissipated over the irradiated crater that was once JOSH-A. There was no doubt about; the Alliance had known all along that JOSH-A was ZAFT's target, and everyone who hadn't been sent elsewhere by the time the attack had taken place had been left to die as a bait to draw ZAFT in the Cyclops' maw. The only question was how did the Alliance know the exact time ZAFT was going to attack? He still lacked experience with his Newtype abilities, but somehow he knew Rau Le Creuset was behind all this.

Tossing away his helmet in disgust at the inhumanity that had just taken place he looked behind him and saw the ZAFT pilot walking cautiously towards Kira, who also waiting cautiously for the other Coordinator to come within earshot. Spotting several soldiers from the Archangel walk briskly towards the pair, he gave a signal to them not to interfere, causing them to stop a look of surprise at the man.

Shiho was beginning to worry about those soldiers.

"Are you a Coordinator?" Yzak asked the moment he came within earshot of the Freedom's pilot.

"Yes I am; I'm a First Generation Coordinator." Kira replied, getting tired of the same question being asked over and over again. The ZAFT pilot raised an eyebrow before asking another question.

"Were you the pilot of the Strike before this new unit?"

"Yes, I was."

"I see…" the ZAFT pilot nodded in understanding, then faster than Kira expected lunched forward and slugged him on a cheek, sending Kira stumbling made to rush forward, but Mu barked at them hold.

"Yzak!" Shiho called his name in worry, wondering what he was thinking doing something like that.

"That was for giving me this scar." Yzak told Kira, slowly drawing his sidearm… and placed it on the ground. "Don't worry; I have no intention of trying to get revenge for everyone you've killed. It's not like they'll come back if I kill you, and besides, what would that say about me?"

Smirking at the stunned expression on the Freedom's pilot's face, Yzak turned and walked towards Shiho, as he became within a meter of his lover, he grimaced. Shiho wasn't in a good mood at all, "What were you thinking, are you trying to get yourself killed!?" she screamed as she grabbed his ear.

"Ow! Shiho that hurts!" Yzak said as he was being dragged to the Archangel, the soldiers letting them pass as they snickered at them, this was far more entertaining than shooting him.

Mu walked towards Kira who was sitting up and nursing his bruised cheek. "You okay there kid?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kira replied. "The way that ZAFT pilot acted was certainly unexpected though."

"No kidding…" Mu said with his trademark playful smile. "…still, you should get that bruised looked at. That pilot's girlfriend isn't too pleased at what he did. I don't think detaining him will be a problem with her around." Mu chuckled at the silver-haired ZAFT pilot getting dragged by the ear by his girlfriend.

* * *

**Civilian Yacht Starlight Wanderer**

**En route to Granada outpost on the Moon**

Siegel Clyne was sitting on the passenger seat of the Starlight Wanderer. He worried for his daughter as she was planning something big that she remained in PLANT with ZAFT soldiers loyal to the Clynes, at least Andrew Waltfeld was with her. "Oh Lacus, I sure hope you know what you're doing." Right now he was more concerned with heading for the Granada outpost on the moon, now a part of Zeon. True, the Principality wasn't very friendly with PLANT, but it was because of the fact that he was all but certain they wouldn't mind taking in a few political refugees.

"Mr. Clyne…" the ship's captain said as he entered the cabin with a worried expression on his face. "…it seems our departure has been noticed. According to our friends in ZAFT, the Nazca-class Destroyer Pliny the Younger has been sent to pursue us and bring you back to PLANT in custody to answer suspicion charges of treason."

"Patrick… is there no end to this?" Siegel sighed wearily at the thought of his old friend. "Can we get to Side 3 before they catch up with us?"

"Hmm…" the captain thought for several moments before giving an answer. "…yes, but only just. The Starlight Wanderer is fast, but not that fast. They'll be in mobile suit range by the time we enter Zeon airspace in the moon, and they just might try and take advantage of that by disabling our engines and towing us back to be boarded."

"Do you have anything in mind?"

"We don't really have any other options; the Zeon outpost in the moon will be our only option. Earth is too far, and we'd never get to the surface in any case. Granada on the moon is our only real option. Perhaps if we broadcast an open message on all channels, we could draw the attention of a Zeon patrol stationed there…"

"Do it; we have to get to Granada no matter what, I only hope Lacus knows what she is doing by staying behind."

* * *

**Archangel's Brig**

"Yzak Shiho, you're alive!" Nicole said somewhat redundantly, though Yzak was gratified to see the happy expression on his friend and fellow pilot's face at the sight of him alive and well.

"Yes, so we are." He replied as the guards closed the cell and left the detention block. "I'm surprised to see you alive as well, Nicol, Is Dearka here as well?"

Nicol's face fell, and he took a while to reply. "I'm sorry you two, but Dearka…"

"I see, so he didn't survive…" Yzak sighed, lying down on his bunk. "…how have the Naturals been treating you?"

"Well enough, I suppose, for a prisoner that is. I've heard rumours from the guards though; is it true ZAFT attacked JOSH-A instead of Panama?"

"It's true." Yzak confirmed. "But it was a trap; the Alliance knew we were coming, and built a Cyclops System under the fortress. Almost all our forces were wiped out, and I probably would have died as well, had that Coordinator from this ship not saved me. It seems that Chairman Zala underestimated the Naturals; they're not nearly as stupid as most of us think."

Nicol raised his eyebrows, "That Coordinator is alive? I saw his unit go off when Dearka activated his self-destruct."

Yzak widened his eyes in shock while Shiho placed her hand on her hands, "He what? What the hell was he thinking!?"

"I don't know, he was dead set on destroying this ship along with everyone in it, I think he just snapped."

Yzak sighed, "Oh Dearka…" Shiho just placed her hand on his shoulder.

Nicol then smirked, "So… how are you two lovebirds?"

The couple went beet red at that remark, "H-How long have you known?" Yzak stammered.

"Ever since I saw you two suck face on the Gorolev's deck a few months ago." Nicol laughed at how red they were, he then asked them, "So where do you think we're headed?"

Shiho composed herself, "Probably Panama, but that's unlikely, before we were sent here, the ship's captain told us there were no longer with the Earth Alliance, so I think everyone defending the fortress was deliberately left unaware and were meant to die there. As for the ship, well, there as Coordinator among the crew, so the commanders must have thought the crew 'tainted'. The probably have the combat data too, so your Blitz and the Strike isn't all that important either."

"So…?"

"To be honest Nicol, I really don't know." Yzak replied with a sigh.

* * *

**Archangel's Bridge**

"I say we go to Orb." Mu said to everyone on the bridge. In addition to the bridge crew, also present was Kira. "We could go to Panama, I suppose, but I'd bet everything I won that we'd probably be charged with desertion if we re-join the Alliance, and even if we don't we know too much. We'd be congratulated and then get sent on a suicide mission."

"But Orb is a neutral nation." Ensign Neumann countered. "Would they even allow us to enter their territory?"

"Normally no, but it's not like we have much choice either." Murrue said, clearly supportive of the idea of going to Orb. "If we declare ourselves defectors, then they'd probably let us in. The Archangel is a top-of-the-line warship, to say nothing of two G-Weapons and an advanced one to boot, even if one of them is rather inoperable at the moment."

"I agree…" Kira said, with Miriallia nodding her support. "… and besides, Cagalli and probably the _Garencieres _are there as well. I'm sure Cagalli has probably has enough influence to allow us to take refuge in her country. And besides, Miss Marida and Miss Kushina can vouch for us."

"It's settled then: we go to Orb."

* * *

**Endra-class Light Cruiser**

**Patrolling over Granada**

"A message is being broadcasted on all channels?" the Endra-class' captain asked in bemusement as he floated into the bridge. They had been conducting performance tests on Warrant Officer Murasame's Gerbera Tetra while on patrol, and should be heading back to Granada in a few hours.

"It's fragmentary, but from what we gather, it seems that it's from a refugee ship carrying political refugees." The XO explained as he ceded command back to the captain, who sat down on the command chair.

"If they are political refugees, then it's probably in our best interests if we take them in." the captain decided. "But only and only if they've entered Zeon airspace; so long as they remain in interplanetary space, there's nothing we can do. Can we home in on their location?"

"We already have, sir."

"Good; change course accordingly, and have all mobile suits standby for launch."

* * *

**Zeon airspace nearing Granada**

"They're damn persistent!" the captain said angrily in the Starlight Wanderer's bridge. "We're already well within Zeon Airspace, but they still keep on coming!" The civilian yacht was travelling as fast as it could along a zigzagging course in attempt to shake the six GINNs pursuing it, but all to no avail. If it weren't for the fact that they intended to bring the ship and everyone aboard back to PLANT to face 'justice', they'd probably be destroyed already.

"Any response from the Principality?" he asked desperately.

"Negative; we are broadcasting on all frequencies but…!" the man's reply was cut off when the ship shook violently, and alarms began to scream across the bridge. "Captain; our engines have been destroyed!"

"Damn…!" the captain ground out as GINNs swarmed the ship and began to attack tow cables. "It's all over now."

At the exact same moment, one of the ZAFT pilots glanced at a beeping tactical display. "An approaching unit… but this speed…!" All the ZAFT mobile suits turned to face the way of the approaching unit, and spotted its glowing exhaust trail. "…a mobile suit? And a new model at that?" the squad leader said in surprise as another pilot fired off his 76mm machine gun several times. To their surprise, the red mobile suit dodged all the incoming shots with impressive skill and speed.

"This is our territory, you damn fascists. Get the hell out!" Murasame Seven as he increased his Gerbera Tetra's speed even further towards the scattering ZAFT mobile suits; transforming at the last moment, he kicked a GINN in the torso with enough to send the unit flying and momentarily stunning the pilot. Simultaneously, he aimed his beam machine gun and fired with pinpoint accuracy, destroying a GINN.

The first GINN had recovered by this point; drawing its sword, it charged the Gerbera Tetra and swung down… only for the Gerbera Tetra to grab the GINN's wrist and prevented it from completing the swing while simultaneously activating a beam sabre of its own and literally bisected the GINN with terrifying ease. As the GINN exploded the Gerbera Tetra backed away, the four remaining GINNs closed in… only for three of them to go off explosively as yellow beams tore them apart.

"If you don't want to die, then stay the hell out of my way!" Sophie Fran roared, wildly but accurately firing her beam machine gun as she piloted her Geara Zulu at high speed towards the ZAFT vessel. The last GINN made to pursue, but stopped and turned as it detected another mobile suit approaching.

"Now then, won't you dance with me?" Puru Three asked playfully as she closed in and activated a beam sabre. Dodging the GINN's wide swing by flying down at the last moment, the Qubeley slashed upwards and cut off the GINN's arms at the elbows before she kicked the unit away from her. "He's yours, Murasame!"

Murasame didn't bother to respond verbally, simply stabbing the helpless GINN through the back before flying past the exploding mobile suit.

At the same time, Sophie Fran soared towards the Pliny the Younger, dodging missiles and bullets with deceptive recklessness. "Sieg Zeon!" she roared, firing a grenade into the ZAFT vessel's hangar, tearing the ship apart from the inside out.

* * *

**Starlight Wanderer Civilian Yacht**

The Starlight Wanderer's captain was aghast at the sight; six GINNs piloted by veteran pilots, destroyed by only three units? Granted, ZAFT pilots only had experience fighting against mobile armours, but still…

"Refugee vessel, what's your situation? This is Sub-Lieutenant Elpeo Puru the Third of the Zeon Newtype Corps, please respond."

"Yes, this is Captain Mark Graff, commanding the Starlight Wanderer." He replied after a moment. "Our engines are down and we have political refugees aboard."

"Understood, standby and hold position until our ships arrives."

Sighing as the communication was cut Mark looked at the Zeon mobile suits flying around outside the vessel and sincerely hoped that Patrick Zala didn't court the Principality's wrath, and shuddered at the thought of facing them in combat.

* * *

**Orb**

**_Garencieres_**

The crew were watching on view screens at the sight of the crater of what used to be JOSH-A. Suberoa Zinnerman was standing beside his daughter and her mother staring at the view screen frowning, "To think they would do something like this, sacrificing the Eurasians for this." He growled.

"I know that the Archangel made it out, and I have a feeling that they're headed back here to Orb. I can feel it." Marida said with her usual coolness.

Kushina nodded, "Let's just hope that we'll be ready for whatever is coming. And it's going to be big."

"War is coming to Orb." Marida said.

* * *

**NA: And that is it for this chapter! Tune in next time!**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	23. The Land of Peace and Fire Part 1

**NA: Now we are finally back at Orb. I like that place.**

**Onwards with the story!**

* * *

**Endra-class Light Cruiser**

Puru Three and Murasame Seven were floating down the ship's hallway when Murasame suddenly got a headache. He grabbed his head in pain. "Gah!"

"Murasame!" Puru called out. "You okay?"

"Yeah… just that man we rescued earlier, he told me I look so much like someone who went MIA. Somehow I'm seeing images."

"Well we are Cyber-Newtypes, you probably sensed something." Puru answered with a thought.

"Still… It's like I know that man, and a pink-haired girl that happens to be his daughter, and a guy."

"No use on thinking about it now Murasame, c'mon let's head back to our cabin. I can help you there."

* * *

**Orb**

Quattro, Marida, Kushina and Suberoa watched the Archangel sail into Morgenroete's shielded underground dock from the observation deck. They had heard of what happened at JOSH-A, and how it had turned out like the AEUG's all-but-disastrous assault on Jaburo during the Gryps Conflict. The war was now turning in favour of the Earth Alliance, with the annihilation of a large portion of ZAFT's readily available forces, which might soon be followed by a full-scale assault on ZAFT's strongholds across the Earth and in space. There was just one problem with such a hypothesis: as far as they knew the Earth Alliance had yet to deploy mobile suits en masse. Turning to leave the observation deck Quattro wondered how Mineva was planning to deal with this while the covert troops are stationed in Orb.

* * *

**Archangel**

Cagalli Yula Athha walked down the ramp and into the Archangel before proceeding into the Archangel's bridge, where the ship's officers were waiting for her. Before she reached the bridge she spotted Kira with widened eyes and tearfully ran towards him in an embrace. Calling him an idiot for making her worry, in which Kira responded with an apology. After a few more words she calmed down and made her way to the bridge. "Captain Ramius…" she greeted the older woman as she entered the bridge. "…welcome back to Orb. My father wants to see you as soon as possible however I believe it best for me to fill you in on the situation first."

"Did something happen?" Murrue responded with a worried tone and expression.

"Well no, at least not in Orb." Cagalli replied grimly. "Shortly before you arrived, the ZAFT survivors from JOSH-A launched an assault on the Porta Panama spaceport. The reports are fragmentary, but apparently and despite the first mass deployment of Alliance mobile suits, ZAFT succeeded in destroying the spaceport. Furthermore, according to survivor testimony, ZAFT massacred any and all surrendering Alliance personnel they could find before they retreated."

"My God…" Murrue breathed in shock.

"If so…" Mu began to interject. "…then the Alliance will probably speed up its plans to reclaim the other spaceports before the Lunar Base exhausts its supplies. Either that, or ZAFT attempts to blockade the Lunar Base, which could to a confrontation with the Principality over the Allster Arrangement. Which would be disastrous to say the least; Zeon has access to both highly advanced mobile suits and nuclear weapons, to say nothing of their superior population and industry as compared to PLANT."

"My father will further elaborate on the situation." Cagalli continued with a nod, before turning to leave the bridge. "I'll be waiting for you outside. We've already made arrangements regarding supplies, repair and maintenance, but for the moment, please confine your crew to the ship."

"So, what do you think?" Murrue asked Mu, turning to face the man who sighed before replying.

"I don't know. Even though we made it this far, I get the feeling we're still going to be pulled into the war regardless."

"Indeed." A familiar red haired woman walked into the bridge.

"Commander Marida!" Murrue was relieved to see her once again. "It is so good to see you commander."

"Likewise captain, as for what Mu said, he is correct. Right now we have deployed ten amphibious mobile suits courtesy of her Highness. Neither the Alliance nor ZAFT knows what these mobile suits are, so we are free to assist Orb in its defense should it be attacked. And I believe Orb will be under attack sooner than you think."

Both Mu and Murrue looked at her grimly at that last sentence.

* * *

**Archangel's Hangar**

"Oh Lieutenant Quattro, it's good to see you again." Sergeat Murdock greeted the blonde as he arrived in the Archangel's MS hangar along with the Morgenroete tech crews. Quattro nodded in reply before turning his attention to the Duel and the seriously-damaged Blitz. "Transfer the Gundams and the CGUE to Morgenroete and prioritize their repairs. I'll handle the bureaucratic issues."

"…'Gundams', sir?" the lead technician for Morgenroete present asked in confusion.

"Oh that's right. Sorry, I meant the G-Weapons. Except for this one, the 'Freedom' as I was informed; leave that to the Archangel's crew."

"I understand sir." The technician responded before barking out the appropriate orders.

* * *

**Archangel's Bridge**

Mu and Murrue were looking out the window when they noticed the underground dock's doors swing open allowing a large red object being towed in by tugboats. By Mu's guess, it was about 80 metres long. "What is that thing?"

"The AMA-X7 Shamblo amphibious Mobile Armour." A woman with tan skin and black hair walked into the bridge.

Murrue breathed in surprise, "That's a mobile armour!? It's monstrous!" Mu turned to the unknown woman, she was wearing a Zeon uniform similar to Marida who was with them.

"And you are?" Mu asked.

"Lieutenant Commander Loni Garvey of Zeon's Amphibious Mobile Suit Forces. And the pilot the of the Shamblo." She answered.

Mu gulped in nervousness, this woman was much younger than he is, and yet is a pilot for this monster. Marida smirked at the blonde man, "The Shamblo is designed for both water and ground combat thanks to its jets. Despite its size it is quite fast in terms of mobility. It can tear any ship apart with its claws, reflector bits, and particle cannons. And Loni over here is a master at tearing ships apart."

"A pleasure to meet you two, Lieutenant Commander Mu La Flaga and Captain Murrue Ramius of the Archangel." Loni nodded at them.

Mu and Murrue just nodded back, still overwhelmed that Zeon could field such a monster.

* * *

**Alliance Bunker**

**Classified Location**

"Damn it all! Everything we gained from Alaska is meaningless now that we've lost all access to space!" one of the men sitting around a table in a bunker at a classified location in Atlantic Federation territory exploded, slamming a fist on the table in frustration.

"We've already accelerated preparations for retaking he Victoria spaceport, but even so it'll be a while before we can launch an attack with reasonable chance of success, even with the depleted ZAFT forces in the region." Another man reasoned out. "We've also issued requests for support and cooperation from Orb, but that damn Uzumi Nara Athha getting in the way!"

"Oh? Is that so now? That doesn't sound very reasonable to me." A bored-looking Muruta Azrael responded lazily. "Especially when you consider that we're fighting against 'Humanity's enemies'."

"I really wish you retain objectivity Azrael." A third man said. "Not all of us here belong to Blue Cosmos."

"Even so, Orb is a part of Earth isn't it?" Azrael countered with a shrug. "There's a reason our group is called the 'Earth Alliance'. If ZAFT wins this war, then not just the Alliance member states, but all nations here in the surface will have their interests compromised, won't they."

"While that is true…" the second man said. "…Orb is a sovereign nation, and as such we can't just force them to cooperate."

"Is that so now?" Azrael said with a dangerous glint in his eyes, causing everyone around the table to abruptly sit up. "In that case, just leave Orb to me. You people can concentrate on Victoria; after all, why settle for just one mass driver, when we can have two?"

"What of the Principality?"

"We can leave them alone." Azrael said firmly, with a tone that brooked no disagreement. "The Allster Arrangement is an excellent piece to bait ZAFT with; if ZAFT attempts to blockade Lunar Base, it'll lead to an inevitable confrontation between PLANT and the Principality." With a feral smile that left everyone at the table extremely uncomfortable, Azrael stood up. "If the rumours are true, I want to see the power that killed an estimated three billion people in just one week unleashed. Even if we're not the ones holding the sword, those damn space monsters will die one way or another."

* * *

**Orb**

**Council Chambers**

"What's with these demands?" Uzumi Nara Athha angrily asked redundantly, staring down at the document that had arrived via diplomatic courier from the Atlantic Federation. "To think that they'd accuse of being unreasonable and ignorant of the world's situation; dam the Atlantic Federation!"

"Lord Uzumi, an Earth Forces Fleet is already en route. ZAFT has also issued an offer for assistance. We need to decide what we need to do now."

"I will not, no, we cannot submit to these unjust and obviously biased demands!" Uzumi replied firmly. "If we were to join the Earth Alliance, then Orb would simply suffer the same fate as Panama did! And if were to accept ZAFT's offer, then we still face the Alliance's wrath!"

As the rest of the council looked at each other in confusion, Uzumi continued. "But that is we cannot allow Orb to be pulled into the affairs of either side, and be forced to give up our ideals so easily. To do so would be tantamount to become everything we would normally stand against, even more so now that the extremists have taken control of both sides in this conflict. Even if it means being forced to fight the Earth Forces, at the very least, we remain true to ourselves. And besides, Zeon has lent us some of their troops to help defend Orb; they believe Blue Cosmos has gone too far. They will remain covert in the defense since their number are few." The rest of the council nodded in agreement.

"I believe we should issue evacuation orders at least." Another member of the council responded. "That way, even if we must pay the price for our defiance of both ZAFT and the Alliance, then our people will not have to pay for our decision to make a stand for what we believe in."

* * *

**Archangel's Hangar**

"As you may know…" Murrue told the crew assembled before her in the Archangel's MS hangar. "…Orb has made the decision to reject both the Alliance's demands and ZAFT's offer, and as such, will soon be forced into a confrontation with the Earth Forces. Furthermore, as we are now effectively deserters and traitors, this ship will have to involve itself in the defence of Orb."

Sparing a moment to let the crew mutter among themselves, she continued. "I understand that some among you may find the idea of fighting the Earth Forces uncomfortable, and I will not hold it against you if you decide to leave the ship; should you choose to do so, then please take actions as per the Orb government's evacuation order."

Smiling sadly, she bowed to the crew. "I understand that I haven't been the best captain up until now, and I'd like to take this chance to thank you all for putting up with me all this time."

* * *

**Earth Alliance Flagship**

**En route to Orb**

Azrael found himself laughing as he stood on the flagship carrier's bridge after reading the Orb government's response. "So, my demands are unjust and unreasonable, and as such are unacceptable are the now? Oh Uzumi Nara Athha, I am so glad that you refused to submit to the given demands. Thanks to you, we now have the chance to test our new G-Weapons. I certainly hope you'll be able to put up a good show."

Turning to the fleet commander, he said "Admiral, commence final preparations. We will commence the attack in a few hours."

* * *

**Archangel**

"Here you go." Miriallia said, tossing the confused Yzak, Shiho and Nicol their pilot suits. "We're no longer with the Earth Forces, and Orb is neutral, so we can't keep you with us anymore."

"Huh? Hey wait, what is this supposed to mean?" Yzak asked belligerently.

"Basically what I said." The brown-haired woman told him. "You might want to join the evacuation seeing as the Earth Forces will soon be attacking."

"What?" Shiho said in shock.

"They demanded that Orb join the Alliance or be forcibly occupied." Miriallia replied, looking at the ZAFT pilots with a measuring look. "Orb chose the latter."

"So, they're making a stand." Yzak said conclusively, nodding in understanding and internally impressed and highly respectful of Orb's determination in the face of overwhelming odds.

"What about you?" Nicol asked Miriallia with worry, causing Yzak to raise an eyebrow at his friend.

"I'm staying with the Archangel, obviously." Miriallia said, turning to leave. "I'm from Orb, and my friends are in this ship. So long as they're here, I'm staying."

"What about our units?" Yzak asked before she could leave the detention block.

"Morgenroete has them." The reply ghosted back, causing Yzak to grimace and Nicol and Shiho to sigh.

* * *

**Orb**

**Morgenroete MS Hangar**

"Ah, Lieutenant Quattro…" Erica greeted the man, already wearing his pilot suit. "…as per your specifications, we've completed your custom unit just in time." Pressing a remote, she opened an MS container exposing the red and black Astray waiting for its pilot. "We've reinforced the body, increased the engine output to twice as normal, applied anti-beam coating to the armour's surface, and increased the beam rifle's output by sixty percent. However, be warned: this will drain your unit's power supply much faster than normal. I trust this is satisfactory?"

"It is; you have my thanks, Engineer Simmons." Quattro answered with genuine gratitude, giving a nod.

"So that's the lieutenant's unit?" one of the Astray Girls commented as they arrived, also wearing pilot suits. "It looks… dangerous."

"That's the idea." Quattro said, looking at the girls. "You three will be piloting under me out there. Whatever you do, don't get reckless. Now, head to your units; it's only a matter of minutes before the Alliance launches its attack."

"It's time; commence the attack." Azrael said, looking at his watch standing on the Alliance Flagship. In response, the fleet commander gave the word, and the fleet commenced the preliminary missile bombardment; although many of the missiles were shot down by the Orb AA-defences, most of the missiles hit their mark, inflicting serious losses on the Orb defence emplacements. Meanwhile, Strike Dagger mobile suits and Spearhead fighters began to launch from the Alliance carriers, even as Orb warships sailed from their docks and Astrays launched from the MS hangars. Orb linear artillery began to fire the counter-bombardment, while the Archangel launched from Morgenroete, aboard which the Freedom and Mu's Astray were undergoing final launch preparations. The two green Sinanju pilots were already in their cockpits preparing to launch.

"Listen up you three." Azrael told the three Extended Humans piloting the new G-Weapons about to launch. "Whatever you do, don't you dare damage Morgenroete or the mass driver."

"But it's fine if we blow up everything else right?" Orga Sabnak asked in response.

"That's fine by me, so long as we get to go all out on everything else." Clotho Buer responded.

"Sure, why not?" Shani Andras answered stoically.

* * *

**Zeon Amphibious Forces**

**Morgenroete's Underground Dock**

Lieutenant Commander Loni Garvey was suited up and her AMA-X7 Shamblo's cockpit preparing to launch. "Z'Gok squadrons, once we head out you will follow my lead and we will hit the Alliance's ships. Cause as much damage as possible. Our objective is to prevent their ships from getting near them."

"Yes commander!" all the ten Z'Gok pilots answered in unison as their units' mono-eyes sprung to life behind the Shamblo."

Loni then smirked as she gave he orders, "All units submerge and launch! SIEG ZEON!"

"SIEG ZEON!" At that the Shamblo and the ten Z'Goks launched and sped their way to the Alliance Fleet for an attack. It was a massive fleet, so they are going to have a lot of fun.

Marida chuckled when she heard Zeon's famous line over the comm channel. "Well we batter get going as well, Mom?"

"Right back at ya." Kushian replied.

"This is Kushina/Marida, Sinanju, launch!"

* * *

**NA: The Shamblo finally makes an appearance! They are going to tear the Alliance a new one. MWAHAHAHAHA!**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	24. The Land of Peace and Fire Part 2

**NA: So here we are for the next part of the battle! Wooh this is getting exciting!**

* * *

**Orb**

**Battlefield**

The missiles fell like rain, turning buildings and vehicles into blossoms of flame and debris, and immolating anyone unfortunate enough to get caught within their area-of-effect. In their wake, the Strike Dagger squads moved in, firing off a storm of beams to pave the way for their advance.

Orb linear artillery opened up the counter-attack, blunting the Alliance assault and buying time for the Astray squads to form up and halt the enemy advance. Across the entire front, Astrays and Strike Daggers, engaging from range for the most part, but at times closing to engage with beam sabres. At range, the two units were more or less equal, but the Strike Dagger's lighter armour allowed it to outclass the Astray in hand-to-hand combat. At the same time, warships of both sides clashed out at sea, the Alliance vessels supported by Spearhead formations, while the Archangel hung back and singlehandedly formed a secondary line behind the cruisers and destroyers of the Orb fleet.

A beam lanced into a Strike Dagger and blew it apart, two green mobile suits landing solidly nearby immediately afterwards. Marida and Kushina smirked as they finally entered the battle. Both Sinanjus activated their beam axes attached to their shields and sped towards the formation of Strike Daggers. Decimating anything that came between them.

"No way… how can they be this powerful? They're not even G-Weapons!" an Alliance pilot commented in disbelief at the sight. This lapse in attention would cost him dearly, Marida smoothly taking aim and firing her beam rifle, destroying the GM-lookalike with ease.

Quattro on the other hand with his red and black Astray accurately fired his beam rifle as well, impaling more than one Strike Dagger as the beam went through. Sparing a momentary glace at the nearby power indicator, Quattro cursed unhappily. "It's not the unit's fault..." he growled. "…it's just the sheer difference in technical prowess between two worlds!"

Nearby, the Astray Girls were ripping the Strike Dagger squads apart. Asagi fired her rifle twice, blowing apart two Strike Daggers with precise strikes. Then, at the same time, both Juri and Asagi turned to face each before firing over each other's shoulders, destroying Strike Daggers attempting to attack them from behind. Meanwhile, Mayura blocked a Strike Dagger's beam sabre with her shield before firing her Vulcan cannons and riddling the Alliance unit with bullets from head-to-toe, springing back just before the doomed mobile suit exploded. Without skipping a beat, she turned and fired, destroying another Strike Dagger to her right even as it began to aim its beam rifle.

"Amazing; and there I was thinking that Lieutenant Quattro was just being crazy with training." Juri said with a tone of wonder. "Looks like all that training is finally paying off."

"What training?" Asagi said playfully. "More like brutally 'killing' us again and again until we learned how to use our units the way they should be used."

"If this is how they fought in the Universal Century…" Mayura concluded. "…then I shudder at the thought of how the Alliance and ZAFT would fare in general against the factions of the Universal Century."

"Well in that case, we don't have to worry about anything." Asagi said with a mockingly-wise nod, all the while shooting down several missiles with her Vulcan cannons. "I'm pretty sure we'd be able to hold our own over the in the Universal Century if we have to."

"What are you three doing just standing over there?" Quattro put in, startling the three girls, although he allowed himself a faint smile at the way the three of them were piloting so well. "The battle's just getting started, don't get distracted!"

* * *

**Ridge overlooking the battle**

"Yzak, this battle…?" Shiho asked her boyfriend, watching the explosions and crisscrossing beams from a relatively distant cliff.

"It's no concern of ours." Yzak replied, but he refused to look at either Nicol, Shiho or at the battlefield.

"But…" Nicol interjected.

"Hey, wait a minute don't tell me you're actually thinking of helping those guys?"

"They may be doing well for now, but it's only a matter of time before the Alliance's superior numbers overpower them." Nicol said, his attention still fixed on the battle between Orb and the Alliance. "And when that happens…"

Yzak growled in his throat, before turning to walk away. "Let's go you two."

"Yzak…!" Shiho raised her voice at him.

"Morgenroete is this way isn't it?"

* * *

**Battlefield**

"You know what I see?" Clotho asked rhetorically with an insane smirk. "…targets!"

"I get first blood!" Orga said in response, before firing the Calamity's shoulder-mounted cannons followed by the chest-mounted cannon repeatedly, obliterating no less than three Astray squads before they could even register their presence. Jumping off of the Raider, the Calamity landed amidst the ruins of what had once been a factory, before firing all its weapons simultaneously and annihilated another squad.

"A G-Weapon; and a new model at that…!" Mu growled as his purple and green Astray hovered low over the ground firing its rifle several times. Despite its bulk, the Calamity proved surprisingly agile, stepping to the side and dodging all of his shots with ease.

"Exterminate…!" Clotho shrieked, transforming in mid-air and swinging his morning star outwards in a wide arc, smashing a pair of Astrays before the Extended fired his shield-mounted machine cannons and destroying a third Astray.

"Gundams, two of them…!" Marida said in surprise, dodging the Raider's face-mounted cannon and catching the Raider's morning star on her shield, which buckled under the force of the impact, but the alloy of the Sinanju is far more superior to any armour the Cosmic Era can offer as the Sinanju held until she could deflect the strike.

"You're fast on your feet, little insect!" Clotho shrieked, firing his machine cannons and face-mounted cannon again and again until he had the green Sinanju where he wanted it. "Finally…fatality…!" he shouted, triumphantly launching his morning star. To his shock, another Sinanju intercepted the attack and bashed the Gundam with its shield, causing it to slam into the ground before it drew a beam sabre and cut the morning and cut the morning star's chain.

"No way…" Clotho whispered in disbelief, before his eyes widened in shock as the two green Sinanjus fired off several shots. The Raider managed to dodge all but one of the beams, which he barely with his shield, only for the unit to be sent flying back from the force of the enhanced beams.

"The three of you, stay back and focus on those GMs!" Marida ordered the Astray Girls. "This Gundam is ours!" Kushina grinned at her daughter, finally a challenge.

"Oh yes!" Kushina roared as she charged at the Raider.

"G-GMs…?" Asagi asked in confusion.

"I mean the Strike Daggers!" Marida shouted in response as she blocked another beam fire from the Raider with her shield. Two Sinanjus fired their beam rifles once more, they pressed their assault. _"Just because you're a Gundam doesn't mean you're invincible, especially not against the Emerald Demons!"_

* * *

**Harbour**

Meanwhile, at the harbour, both the Archangel and the Orb fleet were surprised when one Aegis-class cruiser exploded seemingly out of nowhere. The question 'why' was soon answered when the Forbidden leapt clear of the explosion, its scythe glinting in the sunlight. Smirking, Shani fired the Forbidden's rail-guns and destroyed a nearby Kuraokami-class destroyer. The Freedom immediately shifted its attention to the Forbidden, having occupied itself before then by shooting down missiles and Spearheads. To Kira's surprise, his beams were bent away from the unit, shortly before the Forbidden returned fire with its rail-guns. Kira dodged the shot, only for Shani to fire his plasma cannon, the EM fields of his rail-guns bending the beam towards the Freedom and its surprised pilot. It would probably have hit the unit too, had a grenade not exploded against one of the Forbidden's heavy plates.

"Where'd that ordnance come from?" Murrue asked in surprise.

"Scanning…I've found it! But this is…!" Miriallia said from her post in the CIC. "They're G-Weapons: Duel and Blitz along with an Astray!"

"But why are they…" Murrue responded with a whisper.

What the hell are you doing, Yamato?" Yzak demanded from the shocked Kira over the communication lines. "Stop holding back and get serious alreay!"

"Kira…" Shiho told the Freedom's pilot with an apologetic smile. "…buy us some time. We still need to reprogram our units' OS." Shiho was fast at work, she was able to grab an unmodified Astray, she had to take it since her CGUE was destroyed in the explosion, plus a ZAFT unit wouldn't help if it was seen in the battle.

"R-roger…" Kira responded, still surprised over the situation, but already pulling himself together and re-focusing on the Forbidden.

"Gottfried, Valiant, target the Alliance G-Weapon, and fire!" Murrue ordered while the Coordinators were conversing with each other, forcing the Forbidden to back off, at least temporarily. "Keep up the pressure; Wombats and Hell Darts, fire!"

* * *

**Endra-class light cruiser **

**Patrolling over Granada**

Murasame was lying on his bed with a wet towel over his head. Puru Three was nursing him as he gained a slight fever from that headache he got. "So what do you remember?"

"I don't even know who I am anymore, one says Athrun Zala but the other says Murasame Seven. If Siegel finds out who I am this could mean trouble. More memories are coming back to me, but I prefer it here, away from ZAFT, away from my psychopathic father. But at the same time I want to see my friends, my best friend Kira and my good friend Lacus. They were so far the only closest friends I got, you would love them once you got to meet them." Murasame said with a smile as she placed a hand on his.

"I'm sure I would, now rest, we can discuss more of this later." Murasame nodded as he closed his eyes, letting sleep take him.

* * *

**Orb**

**Harbour**

"System connections all green…we can do this!" Yzak said in triumph, the Duel's engines flaring as the reprogrammed OS allowed the unit to hover a few meters over the ground. "Let's do this Nicol, Shiho!"

"Roger!" Nicol replied.

"I'm right behind you!" Shiho responded as the Duel, Blitz and the Astray hovered over the water towards the Archangel, beam rifles firing at the Forbidden. Cornered between three other G-Weapons and an Astray, the Forbidden was forced on the defensive, all but totally focused on maintaining the Geshmeidig Panzer and with barely enough chances to fire back. The Calamity meanwhile was still exchanging fire with Mu and Quattro's Astrays, with Marida and Kushina doing likewise against Clotho.

"You people are annoying!" Shani complained as his plasma cannon charged and fired towards the Archangel, catching the other G-Weapons by surprise, the beam lancing into the Archangel's side and destroying one of the Valiant rail-guns. He smirked, only for a sudden pain, s though all his nerves were on fire, to erupt across his body. Writhing in agony, he barely avoided/deflected vengeful strikes from the other G-Weapons, one of the Duel's beams destroying his scythe. Gasping in agony, he had the Forbidden dive into the ocean.

"Clotho…!" Orga shouted desperately, the same pain ripping through his flesh. In response, the Raider broke off engagement and transformed into mobile armour mode, allowing the Calamity to jump onto it before retreating.

"What the hell are you doing?" the fleet commander demanded from the three Extended Humans over the encrypted line. "A retreat order wasn't give, and your units should still have enough power!"

"Our formulas are done!" Orga gasped out, causing the admiral to grimace and Azrael to sigh in resignation.

"Well, I guess so much for that." The latter said, standing up and shrugging before turning to the fleet commander. "That should be enough fo-" he was interrupted when a destroyer was literally ripped in half by giant claw.

"What the hell!?" the fleet commander gasped in shock. More ships began to be destroyed in as they sank into the ocean.

Ram Z'Goks underneath the water, were wreaking havoc as they literally went through the ships with their claw shields and rams.

The Shamblo on the other hand was ripping another ship in half with its claws, Loni was laughing, "These guys are pathetic! They don't even know how to secure their side of the battlefield."

Azrael grimaced, "Face it admiral, we won't be able to achieve anything without those three and our ships mysteriously getting destroyed, issue the retreat! We'll try again at first light!"

Making a sound indicative of disgust and frustration, the fleet commander ordered the retreat.

"That was too close…" Quattro said, looking at his unit's power indicator, which indicated approximately eighteen percent energy remaining in his unit's battery. "…I suppose I should have expected this. Not having a Minovsky Ultra-compact Nuclear Fusion reactor is such a hassle."

"Issue the withdrawal order, and complete our units and ships' repair and resupply as possible." Cagalli ordered in the Orb National Defence Headquarters. "And have Morgenroete refine whatever combat calibration those two ZAFT pilots did to their units especially that Astray the female ZAFT pilot used, whatever she did to the Astray did wonders."

* * *

**NA: And there you go! Part 2 of the battle of Orb! Athrun has regained his memories finally, but seems to be indifferent about it, he like being with Puru.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON! **


	25. The Land of Peace and Fire Part 3

**NA: The next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Morgenroete**

**Orb**

"it looks to me like your little gamble worked." Erica commented to Quattro, who was enjoying a mug of coffee at a nearby desk while his Astray and the other Orb mobile suits were undergoing repairs. The Astray Girls were also nearby, taking advantage of the lull in the fighting to get some sleep. "But how did you know those three ZAFT pilots would be coming back at all? And more importantly, how did you know they were going to be fighting on our side?"

"No particular reason…" the blonde replied evasively, causing Erica to raise an eyebrow in mock surprise.

"Is that so… you know, I overheard Commander La Flaga talking about something called Newtypes; care to elaborate?"

"Mu La Flaga talks too much." He answered sourly with a muttered curse. "What I say doesn't go further from us, understand? No one was supposed to know about us until the war comes to an end."

Nodding, Erica motioned for Quattro to continue. "Simply put, Newtypes are the next stage in Human evolution, a natural adaptation by Humans from living in space. This phenomenon – also known as Newtype Awakening – can happen to any Human who was lived in space for a period of time, whether or not they actually live or were born in space at the time. Naturally awakened Newtypes are rare, on a scale of a million-to one. However, most Newtypes these days either inherit their abilities from their parents, or have been awakened by their fellow Newtypes."

"How does one awaken one's Newtype abilities?" Erica pressed curiously. "And what are the limits of your abilities?"

"Natural Newtype Awakening is a long and gradual process." Quattro replied. "Awakening by another Newtype can either be a gradual awakening brought about by constant exposure to another Newtype's psychic brainwaves, or an instantaneous process deliberately triggered by another Newtype. As for our abilities, well, for starters we can sense on another's presence over a relatively large distance, and we can communicate telepathically if needed. We also have enhanced spatial awareness and limited but subconscious and instinctive precognition. Other, more esoteric abilities require specialized equipment such as a Psycommu System or a Psycoframe."

"I see…" Erica said, wondering what would happen once the rest of the world found out about the existence of Newtypes. Two things were for though: PLANT would go up in flames, and Blue Cosmos would be all but dancing in glee. Neither was a cause for exaltation as far as she was concerned.

"You…!" Cagalli said in shock and surprise, her finger pointed in accusation as she entered the Archangel's bridge. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, it's just you Cagalli." Yzak said with complete disinterest, causing Cagalli to flush. He looked her over, before he snorted in amusement. "To think you were such a big shot her in Orb, although I see you remain as unfeminine as ever." He said before getting the back of his head slapped courtesy of his girlfriend Shiho.

"What was that you bastard?" Cagalli roared, her face bright red. Shiho just glared at her for that comment.

"You know each other?" Mu interceded, and Yzak nodded.

"She shot down my transport over the Pacific, though her fighter was also shot down. We ended up spending the night on some uninhabited island before getting rescued."

"Alone on an uninhabited island for a night, is that right?" Mu said with a naughty smile, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Sounds hot and steamy…"

Both persons involved immediately turned dark red, but Shiho was absolutely furious, both women had to physically restrained – Shiho by Yzak and Cagalli by Kira – as they both reached for their guns.

"I am not easy!"

"Yzak is mine you hear!? MINE!" Yzak had to hold a blush at that; he then began to realize Shiho had been having these mood swings lately.

Mu merely laughed while ignoring Murrue's glare and the rest of the bridge crew's face palms. "To answer the Orb lady's question…" Nicol said apologetically while watching Yzak holding onto a fuming Shiho's arm. "…well, we figured that since you were fighting the Earth Forces, and since we couldn't get to Carpentaria on our own through an Earth Forces Fleet, we might as well lend a hand while we're at it."

"Well, what's your assessment of the situation, Commander Joule?" Murrue asked Yzak, who sat Shiho as she suddenly got dizzy all of a sudden.

"We're screwed. We're badly outnumbered as it is, except for the Freedom and our friends from Zeon, those three new G-Weapons outclass ours considerably. Furthermore, we're not really sure if we want to go to Carpentaria at any rate."

"What do you mean?" Cagalli asked.

"Yzak and I overheard some rumours on our way up here." Nicol replied. "Apparently, ZAFT massacred everyone at the Porta Panama spaceport. Commander Le Creuset isn't known to let his troops do as the like, so this means he allowed them to do so, and probably with Chairman Zala's support."

"I'm afraid that he's correct." Uzumi Nara Athha said as he entered the bridge. "Our sources in PLANT tell us that Patrick Zala has all but declared martial law, and has launched a crackdown against the moderates all the while enforcing the fiction of Coordinator supremacy. Moderate Coordinators fleeing to Side 3, which is rumoured to be slowly assembling its fleet should the worst happen."

"Did my father make it out? He's a Natural!" Shiho exclaimed, getting looks of surprise from the others.

"I do not know. I'm sorry." Uzumi replied with an apologetic look.

"What the hell is the Chairman thinking?" Yzak snarled angrily, his fists clenched tightly. "And my mother too! At the end of the day, abilities aside we're no different from the Naturals. At this rate we'll be no different from Blue Cosmos! I didn't sign up for this shit!"

"It gets worse…" Uzumi continued. "…it seems that Muruta Azrael is overseeing this Alliance operation in Orb. We've issued a request for a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution, but…"

Azrael…that little son of a bitch is actually here?" Nicol spat with uncharacteristic venom.

"I'm sorry to say this, but I think you wasted your time, Lord Uzumi." Yzak said to everyone's surprise. "Azrael is known to show no mercy to anyone who gets in his way. When Orb refused to submit to the Alliance's demands, he already made the decision to burn this country to the ground, sans the mass driver and Morgenroete. I think we should prepare for the worst, and if necessary to run to space and join up with the refugees from PLANT."

"Agreed." Marida finally said who was there the entire time along with Kushina. "Our numbers are few, even with the damage Commander Loni caused to the Earth Forces fleet, it won't be enough. They will soon be recalled as we believe the final battle will be in space. And we cannot risk leaving them here."

"What are you saying?" Cagalli responded angrily. "We can't just…!"

"Unfortunately, he speaks the truth." Uzumi interrupted her mournfully. "I do not doubt we can hold the line for much longer. Preparations are already being made to evacuate all surviving forces to space. And while the Principality's ideals are in conflict with ours, right now they may be the only superpower willing to walk the middle path."

"But, are you sure about this you three?" Mu asked the three ZAFT pilots. "Right now, we're fighting the Earth Forces, but if we go to space, you might end up having to fight your own forces. Once you do that, there's no turning back."

"To be honest, I don't really know." Yzak answered after a long pause. "But, if things are as bad as you say, we'll just to stick with you guys so long as you don't actually endanger PLANT itself…." He was interrupted as he noticed Shiho getting dizzy once more. "Shiho you okay?"

"Yeah… it's just I've been getting dizzy lately, and moody as well. I'm lucky I didn't get dizzy during the battle." Shiho replied, getting a bit more nauseous.

"I think I know what's wrong." Kushina said, as everyone's eyes turned to her, she knelt down, and made strange hand signs with speed. Everyone's eyes besides Marida and Suberoa widened. They were then completely floored when Kushina's hands started to glow green as she placed them on Shiho's stomach.

"Woah…" Mu muttered.

"Well now, congratulations you two!" She said pointing to Shiho and Yzak. "You two are going to be parents!"

"Wha…!" Yzak stepped back in shock. Shiho had her mouth covered by her hands as her eyes started getting watery.

"I'm going to be a mother…?"

Everyone's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at this news, they then heard a thump on the floor. Yzak fainted.

**Earth Forces**

**Carrier Flagship**

"Now then, I'm sure you boys understand what will happen if you fail to do what you're supposed to do this time, do you?" Azrael told the three Extended Humans as they sat in their units. "And to be honest, I want to dine on solid land this evening if you don't mind?"

"We're going to make them pay!" Shani snarled in the Forbidden after Azrael cut the line.

"I've got a certain score to settle with those bastards in green!" Clotho spat in agreement.

"Shut up and get the job done, you two!" Orga concluded as the carrier's doors opened; the three G-Weapons promptly launched, the Forbidden diving underwater while the Calamity stood on the Raider's back. Strike Daggers launched en masse along with Spearheads, even as the missile bombardment began.

**Orb**

As before, the missiles fell like rain, but this time with more precision than during the previous engagement; prior to the attack, Alliance tacticians had studied the combat data obtained from the previous battle, and had pinpointed weak points and strong across the Orb line. These were no targeted with extreme prejudice, causing even more damage for the battered and surprised Orb forces.

"All forward positions have been overrun!"

"Primary artillery batteries have been compromised!"

"First-response Astray squads have been forced to fall back! The enemy is advancing on all sectors!"

"Damn you, Azrael." Uzumi grated out as she stood in the Orb National Defence Headquarters along with the rest of the Orb Council while his daughter barked out orders in an effort to reform the line. "So in the ned we aren't even worth listening to, are we?"

"Enemy aircraft for the central point…they're drop-ships! Alliance deep strike inbound!"

Two Alliance transports soared over the collapsing Orb defences, dropping off no less than twelve Strike Daggers via parachute, which upon landing began to advance towards Orb National Defence Headquarters. And the only units close enough to stop them before they could reach their target were those belonging to the Astray Girls, and they were outnumbered four to one.

"You girls realize that we're badly outnumbered, right?" Juri asked as the three of them hovered their units in a wide arc to intercept and cut off the Alliance units before they could reach their target.

"Of course we do!" Mayura countered. "But we do have that trick up our sleeves, don't we?"

"Are you serious? We've only done that right once, and that was in the simulator!"

"Then don't get it wrong!" Asagi shouted as the Strike Daggers entered range and opened fire. The Astrays danced around while hovering, dodging all the incoming fire before lining up.

"Alright girls, let's do this: Jetstream Attack!"

Speeding their units up to maximum, Asagi attacked first, firing her beam rifle three times. The first two shots literally beheaded two Strike Daggers while the third shot blew the rifle arm off a Strike Dagger. Dancing to the side and drawing the enemy's fire, this gave Mayura the chance to follow through, destroying a Strike Dagger with a precise shot to the chest. Then she danced to the side as well, and Juri finished the attack by dual-wielding beam sabres to tear apart two Strike Daggers at high speed while the pilots were distracted by Asagi and Mayura.

"Alright…!"

"I don't believe it!"

"Believe it! We're legends now!"

Cagalli rubbed her face wearily as she heard the Astray Girls celebrating their triumph – which sounded like a really cheesy name for an admittedly advanced high-speed attack – before wiping out the remaining Strike Daggers.

"Well, those three are certainly… enthusiastic." Erica observed from beside Cagalli.

"They sound like a bunch of cowgirls in a bad western." Cagalli said dryly, still hearing the girls' taunts and cheers as they tore a hole into the Alliance advance with a spirited counterattack.

"Exterminate…!" Clotho shrieked, swinging his morning star out towards Marida, while she was busy with a Strike Dagger. Kushina blocked the attack with her shield, deflecting the attack which instead destroyed a hapless Strike Dagger instead. The Raider didn't let up the assault, rapid firing its shield-mounted machine cannons and face-mounted energy cannon but kept on missing as both Sinanjus dodged while counterattacking.

"I've got you!" Orga shouted triumphantly, firing his shoulder-mounted cannons at Kushina who dodged the beams before firing back and destroying the Calamity's bazooka with ease. "Bastard…!" Orga spat, coordinating with Orga to try and keep the Emerald Demons.

Quattro was right behind them, supporting them with extremely accurate beam firing.

"Form up on me and follow through!" Mu ordered, his purple and green Astray leading three fresh Astray squads to drive back the Alliance mobile suit squads in the wake of the Astray Girls' spirited and largely-successful counterattack. "Focus on the Strike Daggers, and leave the G-Weapons to Commander Marida and Lieutenant Quattro and the other G-Weapons; our job is to push the enemy back and reclaim forward positions!"

Yzak and Nicol danced over the water, the Duel and the Blitz firing off beams toward the Forbidden, which either dodged the attacks or deflected them. The Freedom closed in for a direct attack, and Shani fired his rail-guns forcing the Freedom to dodge…and allowing Yzak to aim his shoulder-mounted rail-gun and destroy the Forbidden's scythe. Nicol followed through by launching his lancer darts, which the Forbidden easily dodged, only to get kicked in the back by the Freedom, which followed through with a series of beams Shani barely managed to dodge.

"You're annoying!" the Extended shouted, firing his plasma cannon. The Freedom managed to dodge the attack with ease.

Shiho wasn't with them as Yzak didn't allow it, she protested that she can still fight but everyone knew she shouldn't. She was pregnant and Yzak didn't want to risk getting either her or his future child harmed.

Yzak dodged another plasma cannon round… which curved and destroyed the Blitz's legs. "Nicol…fall back! Get to the Archangel!" Roaring in defiant fury, Yzak engaged the Forbidden on his own, exchanging fire with the heavier G-Weapon before a lucky shot from Shani tore off the Duel's head. "Oh no…!"

"Bye bye…!" Shani said sadistically, when an alarm caught his attention: the Freedom had locked onto the Forbidden with all its beam cannons. The unit barely had time to lock its Geshmeidig Panzer into position into position when the Freedom fired; the Geshmeidig Panzer barely held, the massive plates blown apart and Forbidden sent flying into the sea and in full retreat.

"Damn it!" Orga cursed as alarms began to shriek in his cockpit: he had exhausted his unit's power constantly firing his weapons at the two green Sinanjus and the red and black Astray. "Clotho…!"

"Shut up and get back on your own…finally! Fatality…!" the Raider's pilot shouted triumphantly, swinging out with his morning star. Only to once again be foiled when Quattro side-stepped the weapon before grabbing the chain and pulled the Raider in a downward arc and slammed it into the Calamity. To add insult to injury, Marida finished the battle by blowing off the Raider's head.

"Damnation…!" Clotho cursed, transforming his unit and retreating after the Calamity was in position as well. Shortly afterwards, a white signal flare went up from the Alliance fleet, and the Strike Dagger squads fell back. Immediately afterwards, the Archangel and all surviving mobile suits squads were given new orders to proceed at all speed to Kaguya spaceport, abandoning the harbour and the National Defence Headquarters.

Loni Garvey was finally given the clear for another surprise attack while the Alliance units were retreating. "All right boys! Cause as much damage as possible!"

At that, the Z'Goks and the Shamblo sped to the Alliance Fleet with maximum speed. The Ram Z'Goks sliced through the Alliance destroyers like butter with their rams and shield claws. The Shamblo tore through and slice a cruiser in half. Surprising Azrael and the Fleet Commander.

"Where did they come from!?" the admiral said with shock and dismay.

"Order our subs to take them out!" Azrael ordered.

"We lost contact with all nearby submarines!" An officer said as an explosion rocked the ship, damaging the carrier. "Detecting an energy reading from the spaceport!"

"What an energy reading from the spaceport?" the fleet commander asked redundantly, considering the brilliant flare and plume of light streaking up to the sky in the distance while another explosion rocked the ship.

"It appears to be consistent with an anti-matter reaction."

"Positron interference…" the fleet commander whispered in understanding while Azrael frowned.

"They're just going to run away?" he said disdainfully. "Well alright, seeing as we've already won as it is, I suppose we can afford to be generous and let them go. Our forces in space will deal with them soon enough."

"Admiral; the mass driver has gone online! Orb is launching a vessel into space!"

"What? Launch the Spearheads!" the fleet commander ordered.

"We can't sir! Flight deck has been damaged by the explosions!"

"Then order all ships to fire missiles! Don't let them launch!"

"What? Are you crazy?" Azrael snapped. "Belay that! You might damage the mass driver!" Needless to say, both Azrael and the fleet commander were less than pleased when the mass driver exploded along with Morgenroete after the launch was completed. "Damn you, Uzumi Nara Athha…"

Commander Loni Garvey watched the explosion from the distance, which was used as a signal for her and her forces to pull back, their work on Earth, is done. It's time to head back to space. "All units fall back, our work here is done." With that all the Z'Goks along with the Shamblo sped away from Orb to their mother ship hidden in one of the islets.

The _Garencieres_ was already in the air with both Sinanjus safely inside, heading for space to rendezvous with Orb and Zeon forces. They were then informed some ZAFT forces loyal to the Clynes will be rendezvousing with them as well. The Bloody Valentine war is soon coming to a close.

**NA: And there you have it, the battle for Orb is done.**

**"Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	26. A Fiery Reunion

**NA: Hello once again, and sorry for the slight delay. I have been tired recently and been busy with work, so I needed to take a break. Posting is going to resume. Here is the next chapter and enjoy!**

* * *

**Izumo-class Battleship Kusanagi**

"You morons…!" Quattro exploded, causing the three girls to flinch. "I've told you time and time again not to be reckless! And there you were rampaging across the battlefield and dangerously far ahead of our forces! I don't want a repeat of this, you understand?"

"Yes sir." Asagi answered downcast.

"Good…" Quattro said, boosting past them with a kick to the deck. "…congratulations on replicating the Jetstream Attack. Just don't let it get to your heads." As he floated away, he allowed himself a soft smile at the sounds of the three girls excitedly chatting away behind him.

"So, where do we go from here?" Mu asked as everyone gathered in the Kusanagi's bridge, except for Cagalli, which had secluded herself in her room over her father's demise. The man had stayed behind with the rest of the council to oversee the launch, and later initiate self-destruct procedures. "The Moon is a no go, and we can't stay in orbit either."

"We should go to Mendel." Nicol suggested. "The colony's been abandoned for a long time now, so it should be a good place to hide in, for a while at least."

"Furthermore…" Yzak continued thoughtfully. "…from Mendel we should be able to listen in on most ZAFT and Alliance communications without too much trouble, and allow us to see what's happening and what we might end up going against."

"I agree." Marida concurred. "From what I remember I think we have a force stationed there, we found some information about some secret facility in Mendel so we got curious. From there we can also contact the Principality while avoiding detection in the process."

"So everyone agrees…" Murrue said, looking around the bridge. After seeing no signs of dissent, she continued "…Mendel it is then."

Before everyone made their way back, Suberoa contacted the Kusanagi, "Captain, I'm picking up a single ZAFT ship heading for us, I see no signs of hostility. It says 'Mr. Pink says hello'."

Kira then widened his eyes in surprise, "Lacus…!" everyone raised their eyebrows at that. "Don't shoot, Lacus is a friend and she wants to help us."

* * *

A few minutes later a familiar pink haired woman floated inside the bridge of the Kusanagi. "Kira…!" she immediately went for him and gave him a hug, surprising most of the people in the bridge. "I'm so happy you're alright!"

"I won't accept that!" Mr. Pink came in.

Kira smiled and then asked her. "I am too Lacus, how did you get here and how did you get that ship?"

"Oh the Eternal? We just took it; there were still some of us dissatisfied with Patrick Zala, so we sort of formed a resistance. This ship is all we could get, inside is another Mobile Suit, but we can't get anyone to pilot it." She showed them the mobile suit in a computer. Gaining a raised eyebrow from Marida.

Kira thought for a moment, "We can probably ask those guys from the Principality to reconfigure it so that anyone can pilot it, but that could take time."

Marida continued, "I can handle that, the _Garencieres _has spare units for reconfiguration. We can then give it to Quattro, if this unit is red and fast, he will want to use it." Everyone looked at her like she grew a second head, "Quattro is a big fan of 'The Red Comet.'"

* * *

**Earth**

"Well done…" Azrael congratulated Captain Sutherland as the rode on a jeep towards a waiting shuttle at the newly retaken Victoria spaceport. "…with this the rearmament of our fleets in space should proceed as planned."

"Indeed…" Captain Sutherland replied. "…although it was a rather close battle. Victoria was ours from the beginning, and ZAFT knew it, so they attempted to destroy the mass driver instead. Fortunately, we managed to stop them in time.'

"So I see…" Azrael said with a nod. "…still it will take some time to fully rearm our fleets. I assume my request has been accommodated?"

"It has, I assure you Director." Captain Sutherland replied. "But still, can your source really be trusted? I mean, the information is from PLANT itself, after all."

"Oh I wouldn't worry; after all, this was the same person who gave us all we needed and wanted to know about the attack on JOSH-A."

"Is that right?" Captain Sutherland asked rhetorically. "You know, even with mobile suits of our own, breaking through ZAFT's fortresses will be costly."

"We can afford the losses…" Azrael said dismissively before his eyes lit up. "…but if my source proves as useful as ever, then even ZAFT's fortresses may prove to be little more than troublesome annoyances."

* * *

**Rewloola-class Battle Cruiser Jade Lancer**

"What's wrong?" Puru Two said, floating up to the captain's seat on the bridge.

"Ah, commander; we've detected a ZAFT flotilla composed of three Nazca-class Destroyers en route to L4, most likely towards Mendel." The captain replied, his eyes not leaving the tactical display. "What could they be after, I wonder?"

Puru Two narrowed her eyes in response, her mind already at work analysing the situation and going through possible courses of action. Technically she was supposed to be taking the salvaged gene-technology from Mendel back to side 3 through Granada's long range mass driver, and she was looking forward to coming home after months in that wasteland of a colony, but all the same…

"Captain, adjust the Jade Lancer's course, and proceed to follow the ZAFT flotilla at a safe distance." She ordered, turning to float out of the bridge. Then, almost as an afterthought or perhaps she sensed the captain's questioning look at her, she said "Just attribute it to…intuition, captain. I have a feeling big sister Marida is back in space and is at Mendel."

"Understood; helm, change course accordingly and increase Minovsky Particle density."

"Why am I not surprised?" Azrael noted, as the approaching Dominion's sensors picked up the ships in Mendel's dock. "To think they were hiding here of all places; oh well, I suppose we'll have to clear them out before we can meet with our contact. Lady Captain, if you please?"

Without skipping a beat, Natarle began barking out orders. "All hands to stations and issue a Level One Battle Alert. Prepare all mobile suits for launch but keep the Strike Daggers on reserve. Have the Gottfried and the Valiant on standby. Load missile tubes one through six with Sledgehammers, and missile tubes seven through twelve with Corinthos. Arm Hell Darts, and aim the Lohengrin… target the spaceport and fire!"

"You're not sending out all our units at once?" Azrael asked in surprise as the Lohengrin fired, sending a stream of anti-matter that detonated spectacularly against the abandoned colony's wall.

"No disrespect intended Director, but while you have trust in your contact, he's brought a whole flotilla with him, and composed entirely of Nazca-class Destroyers no less." Natarle replied. "Obtaining key intelligence from PLANT aside, your safety while you remain on the frontlines is my responsibility. We'll need numbers in case things turn south."

Azrael merely smiled in response, but his and the rest of the bridge crew's attention was drawn when the Archangel launched from the spaceport. His expression quickly morphed into one of puzzlement when Natarle stood up and opened a channel to the enemy vessel. "This is Captain Natarle Badgiruel of the Alliance vessel Dominion; please respond, Archangel…Captain Ramius, I know you can hear me."

After a moment, a vid-link opened from the Archangel, and Natarle found herself facing her former CO. "Natarle… it's good to see you again, though I wish it were under less pressing circumstances."

"The feeling is mutual, captain." Natarle replied. "You are currently charged with desertion, treason, and absconding with Alliance assets, but if you surrender now I give my word to testify in your favour in an effort to reduce your sentence and gain amnesty for your crew… I understand you have certain grievances over the events in Alaska, but…"

"I'm sorry Natarle, but that is totally unacceptable." Murrue interrupted firmly. "This is not just about Alaska… we have serious doubts about the integrity of the Alliance itself. As such, I cannot surrender my ship and crew to you. No retreat, no surrender!"

Before Natarle could respond, Azrael laughed loudly over the whole conversation. "Oh Lady Captain, you are so amusing. But you know if all things could be solved by means of dialogue, then we wouldn't be fighting now, wouldn't we?"

"But Director Azrael…!"

"Launch the Forbidden, the Raider, and the Calamity!" Azrael firmly ordered. "Today we sink the 'unsinkable' Archangel!"

* * *

**Kusanagi**

"What's the situation?" Cagalli asked as she floated into the Kusanagi's bridge. Truth be told, she was still somewhat shaken over her father's death, as well as the revelation that Kira was blood brother, but she couldn't allow that to get in her way; to do so would cheapen her father's sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all those who died to allow them to get this far.

"The Archangel has engaged in combat with the Dominion; Duel and Blitz engaged in combat with the Forbidden. The Freedom has engaged the Raider, while Commander La Flaga's Astray has engaged the Calamity. Thus far, no Strike Daggers have been launched."

"They haven't launched the rest of the of their mobile suit squads?" Cagalli said in surprise. "But why…?"

"Probably either because ZAFT is behind us…" Erica said as she entered the bridge much to Cagalli's surprise. "…or we along with the Eternal and _Garencieres_ haven't launched yet."

Cagalli narrowed her eyes, wondering if she should order the Kusanagi or any of its units to launch. "Have the Astray Girls scout out the other side of the colony." She finally ordered. "The surrounding debris is preventing us from detecting any approaching units and ships even without any N-Jammer interference. We need to know more before we can do anything. The Archangel should be able to hold for now… I hope."

"Asagi… why are our units black and purple?" Mayura asked in a deceptively calm tone, grabbing Asagi by the neck and glaring at her.

"I swear I had absolutely nothing to do with this!" Asagi answered, flustered.

"I think it looks great!" Juri gushed, causing Mayura to glare at her, which she just ignored.

"I had them repaint your units." Quattro put in while floating towards his unit. "I thought that if you insisted on emulating the Black Tri-Stars, then your units should at least look the part. Now hurry and get in our units. You have launch orders, don't you?"

"Roger!"

* * *

**The Jade Lancer**

The Alliance is fighting Orb at Mendel?" Puru Two asked the captain, already in her Qubeley and wearing her pilot suit. "I heard that Orb was occupied by the Alliance shortly before they retook Victoria, but to think some of their forces escaped to space before they destroyed their mass driver. _Perhaps Captain Char and big sister are with them?"_

"What do we do, Commander?" the captain asked, unaware of her wondering about the Red Comet or Marida.

"Maintain course; inform me once we enter mega particle cannon range, but do not engage until I give the order." She ordered, putting on her helmet. "Let ZAFT close and strike first, after which we'll be strike the killing blow."

* * *

**Nazca-class Destroyer Vesalius**

"I see; so at least some of Orb's forces managed to escape to space." Rau observed, viewing the tactical map of the surrounding area on the Vesalius' bridge along with Captain Ades. This was a complication he had not foreseen; officially, he had been sent to Mendel to intercept the new Alliance Archangel-class that had been dispatched from the Moon, and to make sure that they didn't get whatever it was they came to get. Unknown to Patrick Zala, Rau himself had sent the message that lured Azrael to Mendel, just so he could give Blue Cosmos' leader the N-Jammer Canceler data that would finally end this war… and all of Humanity as well. Of course, Side still had to be dealt with after ZAFT burned the Earth to ashes, but a triumphant PLANT should be capable of initiating mutual destruction with Side 3 at the least.

"This certainly complicates things." Ades observed. "The Orb Remnants are the Alliance's enemy, but they aren't our ally either."

"It doesn't matter. "Rau said dismissively. "Considering Patrick Zala's policies, we might as well take this chance to be rid of a potential enemy in the future." Privately, Captain Ades strongly doubted the ethics and morality of the chairman's policies, but… orders were orders.

* * *

**Astray Girls**

"I count three Nazca-class Destroyers." Jura said grimly. "And they're closing on Mendel fast."

"It looks like they're preparing to launch mobile suits too." Asagi observed as the hangar doors on the ZAFT warships began open.

"Can we get back in time?" Mayura asked with a playful tone.

"Easily…" Juri answered with a rare tone of viciousness in her voice. "…and the loser buys drinks."

"I'll hold you to that." Mayura replied, and the two girls blasted off, with a spluttering Asagi following shortly behind them.

* * *

"Mobile suit squads spread out and standby to commence bombardment." Puru Two ordered the eight Zeon mobile suits – two Jagd Dogas and Six Geara Zulus – following her Qubeley as they launched from the Jade Lancer. "Avoid hitting the Orb units and their allies, but concentrate your fire on the ZAFT and Alliance units. Leave the ZAFT ships to the Jade lancer. Do not attempt to attack the Alliance carrier and make sure to avoid detection until after the Alliance retreats. Am I understood?"

"Roger!"

* * *

"Listen up…" Rau ordered the seventeen GINNS that followed his GuAIZ as they approached the battlefield. "Concentrate on the enemy mobile suits first and leave the warships last."

"Now then Mu…" he silently wondered with a smile. _"I wonder if you've gotten mobile suit of your own as well. If so, let's see how far you can catch up with me!"_

* * *

"We've confirmed three Nazca-class Destroyers advancing." Asagi reported as the Astray Girls returned to the Kusanagi, inwardly cursing at how she owed the other girls a drink. "They've probably launched mobile suits already."

"Understood…" Cagalli replied. "…launch the Kusanagi and all Astrays."

* * *

Lacus Clyne who was sitting on the captain's chair of the eternal turned to Andrew Waltfeld, "Mr. Waltfeld if you please?"

The man nodded, "Launch the Eternal! Have all weapons at the ready and prepare for combat!"

_"Be safe Kira." _Lacus thought in a prayer.

* * *

_"What is this pressure?" _Quattro wondered as he launched along with the Emerald Demons following him. He looked around at the star-strewn darkness of space. "_It can't be…Paptimus Scirocco? No, it's not him, but the feeling is incredibly similar. Who in the world is this?" _Quattro then turned to his com. "Marida, Kushina. Did you two feel that?"

"Yes, it feels like him, but different." Marida said with narrowed eyes and a frown. "Paptimus, to think they had their own version of him here."

Kushina nodded; aware of whom Paptimus is thanks to the history books Marida made her read. "We'll just to keep on our toes, we may have the advantage of mobile suits, but doesn't equal to skill."

"Puru puru puru puru puru puru! Wait for me!" a childish voice came in through the com. The Kshatriya flew in formation as well. "I want to play too!"

"Yes Elpeo, you can go ahead and play." Marida sighed, honestly it was about time to send her out, any more than that and she will explode in boredom.

"Puru puru puru puru puru puru!" Elpeo Puru the Twelfth started doing circles as they flew towards the battlefield. "Let's play! Wait why is Paptimus here? Didn't he explode back then?"

* * *

**NA: And there you have it! The next chapter! Puru Twelve shows up again in her awesomeness that is Puru.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	27. Worlds Collide

**NA: Hell again! Hope you like this chapter as well!**

* * *

**-Space-**

"This is…Le Creuset?" Mu whispered as he dodged a shot from the Raider. "Damn, why now of all times?"

"You're not getting away!" Clotho spat, attacking while pursuing the Astray attempting to escape. Mu dodged all of his attacks though, much to Clotho's anger. Launching a counterattack, Mu flew behind a large number of debris, using them as shields on approach before shooting off the Raider's head. Not satisfied with that, he drew a beam sabre and cut off the Raider's legs at the knees forcing a raging Clotho to retreat.

"Commander La Flaga…!" Yzak shouted after the man as he flew off in pursuit of Rau, but was forced to turn back to the battle as the Forbidden rapid-fired its plasma cannon and rail-guns at him, shots which the Duel barely dodged.

"Yzak…!" Nicol shouted in alarm, firing his arm-mounted rocket claw, which the Forbidden deflected with its scythe. The distraction was enough to allow Yzak to counterattack, kicking the Forbidden in the back before firing his multiple weapons all at once. The Forbidden managed to tank the assault, but it left the Forbidden's heavy plating pitted with cracks and damage.

"You're annoying!" Shani snarled, firing his plasma cannon several times, forcing the Duel and the Blitz to back off.

"We'll tear their formation apart! Let's go girls – Jetstream Attack!" Asagi shouted, firing her beam rifle at a GINN. The unit dodged only to fly right into Mayura's sights, the girl promptly blowing it apart. Asagi and Mayura then flew to the sides, drawing the other GINN's fire… allowing Juri to fly in and bisect another GINN.

"And another one bites the dust!" she cheered, dodging machine gun fire from a GINN while returning fire with her Vulcan cannons.

* * *

Marida and Kushina were in their Sinanjus observing the battle, "Well, I really wish we could join in." Kushina grumbled.

"Indeed, unfortunately we have strict orders not to since we're in Zeon units. Lucky for Char he's in an Astray." Marida said with a nod.

"It sucks being neutral does it?"

"Yep…" Marida said as she watched the Three Ships combat the Dominion, "Impressive, that Alliance battleship that looks like the Archangel is holding its own quite well. Their captain is good if it can hold against three ships."

"We still have to worry about that Paptimus Scirocco of this universe…" Kushina said. "How long till the Jade Lancer arrives?"

"Anytime now actually."

"You know musume(Daughter) , they never said anything about engaging ZAFT units, and Mu seems to be a in a pinch right now." Kushina said with a smirk.

Marida could only laugh at how right her mother was as she and Kushina sped through the debris to help out the Astray.

* * *

Rau fired his beam rifle and destroyed a Strike Dagger, then looked around for any witnesses. Satisfied there wasn't any, he aimed his beam rifle at the distant Dominion – Which was duelling the Archangel, the Kusanagi and the Eternal – and activated the underslung laser communications device.

"Captain…" the crewman manning the Dominion's communications console spoke up. "…we're receiving a laser transmission. It reads '…the house of Odin is full of traitors…'"

"What…?" Natarle responded in surprise in bemusement.

"It's our contact!" Azrael said, half-rising. "reply with '…I accept…' and prepare to receive a data-stream. Direct all received data to my personal quarters and retreat at once the transmission is complete. Let ZAFT deal with the traitors and the forces from Orb along with that third ship."

"Understood… transmission confirmed…receiving…"

* * *

A GINN moved to engage Quattro's Astray, but the red mobile suit merely dodged the fire from the GINN's machine gun, before returning fire with its Vulcan cannons. "It's well-armoured…" Quattri commented, seeing the bullets harmlessly off of the GINN's armour. "…however…!"

Dodging more incoming fire, he sped up to maximum, using the surrounding debris to hide his signature as he flew in a wide circle, coming up towards the GINN from behind. To the ZAFT pilot's credit, the GINN managed to draw its sword in time and turned around… but not nearly fast enough to counter Quattro's attack, which bisected the GINN. As the GINN exploded, Quattro stowed his beam sabre before moving on. _"Damn you Scirocco…" _he thought darkly. _"…what are you up to?"_

* * *

Rau smiled as the transmission was completed and the Dominion launched signal flares. Just a little more, and the entire world would end. His thoughts on the matter were disrupted however, when he felt a very familiar presence before he was forced to dodge several beams.

"I see you survived the fires of Alaska, Mu!" Rau taunted, returning fire with his beam rifle. "I would be most pleased if you survived all the way to the endgame, but I'd be happier if you died here!"

"Shut it you bastard!" Mu spat, firing his Vulcan cannons at the closing GuAIZ before drawing a beam sabre with a curse and blocking Rau's beam claws.

"I see…" Rau continued to taunt Mu. "…your skills aren't bad for someone new to piloting mobile suits. But then again it was to be expected from my 'son'."

Rau merely smirked as he backed off, all the while dodging Mu's attacks before taking aim and firing his beam rifle destroying Mu's beam rifle. Cursing, Mu discarded his shield and drew both of his beam sabres before he charged towards Rau, who launched his waist-mounted rocket anchors, both of which tore into the purple and green Astray, causing an explosion in the cockpit and injuring Mu.

"Now… disappear!" Rau shouted in triumph, firing his beam rifle… only for another beam to intercept his beam, dispelling both. Sensing two more presences, he turned in shock and barely managed to dodge several more beams as he caught sight of two green mobile suits maneuvering through the debris at an extremely fast rate. _"They're moving so fast through the debris like it's nothing! And what is this… two more people with the same powers as me… this is impossible!"_

* * *

"Yzak…!" Nicol shouted in alarm, dodging fire from the GINNs surrounding them. The Alliance had already retreated, which was understandable as all of the Strike Daggers had already been destroyed and one of their G-Weapons had taken serious damage. The only problem now was that ZAFT was entirely focused on them, and thus put both Nicol and Yzak in a moral crisis over fighting their former comrades.

"I know!" Yzak replied, shooting the head off a GINN. "Nicol, aim for their heads or limbs! Avoid aiming for the main body of the ZAFT mobile suits!" Taking a risk and looking to the distance, he spotted three Nazca-class Destroyers trading long-range fire with the Archangel, the Kusanagi and the Eternal, the three flotillas circling one another as beams and missiles crisscrossed the intervening space. "This is messed up!"

* * *

"Interesting…" Rau said mockingly, flying to a safe distance and exchanging fire with the two Sinanjus. "…two custom mobile suits piloted by skilled pilots. Humanity never ceases to amaze me with the lengths they would go to just achieve their goals."

Marida merely snorted in response, flying around the debris while firing back, her mother doing the same. "I see no matter which world you're from you're as twisted as ever, Scirocco!"

"I see!" Rau responded in triumph. "You are from the Principality! And my other self from your world shares beliefs similar to my own! To know that… fills me with such joy! However, I am not this Scirocco person – I am Rau le Creuset!"

"Enough talk!" Kushina shouted in response, firing off several shots in quick succession which a surprised Rau barely dodged. She immediately flew behind a large piece of debris before flying out at high speed towards Rau who fired his rocket anchors. Kushina dodged and kicked the GuAIZ in the torso, sending it flying and Rau reeling.

"Most impressive…" Rau conceded grudgingly. "…I underestimated you two. It would seem that the rumours are true after all. The Principality has had mobile suits long before you came to this world, otherwise this level of skill would make no sense!"

"Just shut up already!" Marida growled, firing her beam rifle at the same time as Rau, the two beams hitting each other and cancelling each other out… even as yellow beams began to rain down across the battlefield. _"Dammit, he's really good despite being a two-on-one. If Char weren't so busy right now we could really use the help."_

* * *

"What the hell?" Yzak said in surprise, as a nearby GINN exploded. It wasn't the only one; most of the surviving GINNS were caught by surprise by the storm of particle beams raining down over them – seemingly ignoring the units from Orb and focused on ZAFT – and were quickly destroyed. Only those pilots skilled enough to dodge or those who had already retreated as a result of battle damage, managed to avoid destruction in mere moments. As he watched with a mix of surprise and horror, no less than ten yellow beams lanced out from the distance and literally tore the centre Nazca-class Destroyer apart as the other two Nazca-class Destroyers desperately launched evasive manoeuvres. After a few tense moments, four more lanced out and impaled one of the remaining ZAFT vessels, which exploded shortly afterwards, causing the last Nazca-class Destroyer to launch signal flares.

* * *

"What's going on here?" Rau raged, when he felt something tug at his mind. Reacting on instinct, he immediately performed a series of high-speed evasions that probably saved his life, as bright yellow particle beams lanced down from multiple directions simultaneously. Acting on instinct again, he fired in a seemingly random direction, and was rewarded by a small explosion.

"A gun-barrel…" No, it's something else!" he grated out, before the unit shook as Marida blew off his shield arm. "Damn it…!" he cursed, before looking in alarm to the side as he spotted a second Nazca-class explode shortly before the last ZAFT vessel launched signal flares. He briefly considered belaying the retreat order when he was forced to dodge several more beams – green ones this time – three black and purple Astrays and a red one closing fast. _"Custom Astrays… damn this. Azrael already has what he needs… I suppose that discretion would be the better part of valour by this point." _He thought to himself as the turned and retreated.

* * *

"Don't pursue!" Char ordered the Astray Girls before opening a channel. "All Orb and Allied forces hold position and standby." Narrowing his eyes, he felt the surrounding funnels withdraw, and after a few more minutes, spotted a red and orange Qubeley approaching fast. To his surprise, it approached one of the Astray Girls first, apparently, to examine her unit.

"So this is an Orb mobile suit?" Puru Two commented in her usual cold tone. "It resembles a Gundam quite a bit."

"Y-yes…" Juri responded somewhat hesitantly. "…it's an Astray."

"You're quite young, aren't you girl?" Puru Two asked, before flying to Char. "Only you would go to the trouble getting a custom unit in those colours. It's been a long time, Captain Char Aznable." Marida and Kushina chuckled as his real name was finally revealed.

"W-what…?" Asagi stammered in surprise as she heard Puru Two over the channel.

"Commander Puru Two, what are you doing here? We were unable to contact Side 3 from Mendel (They can contact Jupiter thanks to the communication towers set up all the way from Jupiter to Earth), so why?"

"We had some business here in Mendel just a short while ago. We were on our way back when we detected a ZAFT flotilla headed for Mendel, and we decided to hang around and see what was so important that ZAFT flotilla would go to all the trouble to come to the middle of nowhere." Removing her helmet, Puru Two shook her long hair loose and sighed. "The Jade Lancer is standing by nearby. If you wish for a full briefing, Captain, I suggest that you come aboard. Big sister Marida, Kushina, it's good to see you two again."

Marida and Kushina smiled, "It's good to see you too Elpeo." Marida replied.

Puru Two promptly turned and flew off in the direction of the Jade Lancer, followed by Geara Dogas and Jagd Dogas hiding in the debris from where they had bombarded the battlefield. "Big sister Two, wait for me puru puru!" a familiar childish voice came in as a quad-winged green mobile suit followed the Qubeley. "Puru puru puru!"

"Shut up Twelve!" Puru Two shouted as she made her way back to the Jade Lancer. Kushina couldn't help but laugh at the sisters' antics.

"No way… Lieutenant Quattro, was actually Char?" Asagi said in surprise.

"The Red Comet of Zeon…" Juri whispered, her eyes shining in awe.

"Juri…" Mayura said with a tone of disgust. "…he's older than us. If I remember correctly, he should be about thirty-eight or something by now. Snap out of it."

"What… oh right. Sorry about that." Juri said, laughing and blushing in embarrassment.

Marida and her mother rolled their eyes at Juri, and then Kushina spoke up, "Not to mention he's already married and has a daughter."

"Mom how is Charlotte?"

"Last time I saw her, she was playing with the triplets."

"Ehh? Char is married!?" Juri said in shock as they flew back to their respective ships.

* * *

"So Quattro is Char? Big surprise there…" Erica snorted derisively.

"Engineer Simmons, did you know all this time?" Cagalli asked.

"I didn't have any confirmation, but yes, I suspected as much." Erica replied. "Let's see, he's blonde, is a skilled pilot, and he likes to pilot red mobile suits that go faster than normal. He might not have worn a mask, but sunglasses? Seriously, how did he ever go so far with such a paper-thin disguise?"

"Engineer Simmons, Lady Cagalli, I'll be heading over to the Jade Lancer to gain additional information. I'll send you an update as soon as possible, and I'll try and arrange for some supplies as well." Char said over the com as Two and Twelve we're going at it.

"Puru puru! What have you been up to big sister?"

"I was on a mission Twelve, and stop repeating our name like that!" Puru Two was getting riled up, only Twelve or the original Elpeo Puru could do something like that and get away with it.

"Understood; good luck and thank you captain." Cagalli responded with a chuckle at the two sisters, she then barked out orders. "All mobile suits return immediately. Hurry up with repairs and maintenance!"

* * *

**Dominion**

Meanwhile, in his quarters aboard the Dominion, Azrael finished decoding the received data from Rau. Viewing them on his computer, his eyes slowly widened in elation he saw data on the completed but unused Freedom, Justice, and Providence G-Weapons, and finally, with the nuclear trefoil as a background, the data on the N-Jammer Canceler itself.

"This is perfect!"

* * *

**NA: And there you have it!**

**Marida and Kushina weren't expecting to face a fellow Newtype and somewhat underestimated Rau. But they managed to drive him back at least.**

**I kinda like the banter between Two and Twelve, it's funny.**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


	28. The Ultimate Coordinator

**NA: So here we are again! Enjoy the Chapter!**

* * *

**Jade Lancer**

"So, how was your trip, captain?" Puru Two asked Char while attempting to pry Puru Twelve off of her. The Jade Lancer, Kusanagi and Eternal had since finished resupply, but the Archangel was still docked with a La Vie en Rose-class and undergoing repairs.

"Reasonably well, I suppose." Char answered, looking over a written report. "Although I can't say I'm too happy about how things went south towards the end. Still, I managed to get a good grasp of Orb's technology level and their military capability, and even managed to find myself a trio of apprentices."

"I noticed." Puru Two said with a nod and eye twitch, still trying to ignore her sister's annoying antics. "Those three really resemble the Black Tri-Stars, at least according to your report."

Char smiled faintly before turning back to the report. "I see that kid Banagher finally married Mineva, huh? About time they took the next step. Also, we're gathering a fleet in the Debris Belt?"

"Yes." Puru Two replied after she bonked Puru Twelve on the head, tapping a few controls and changing the display accordingly on the floor-to-ceiling tactical map. "At any rate, our biggest difficulty is our shortage of available warships. We have the required manpower and mobile suits, but we barely have enough ships as it is, given the current focus on building up the mining ships and the merchant fleet."

"I see." Char said with a nod, thoughtfully regarding the tactical display. "What's our operational strategy?"

"Our tactical planners believe the deployment of strategic weapons is inevitable." Puru Two answered. "However, we are not to intervene so long as civilian targets are not targeted. As such, an Alliance nuclear assault on the space fortresses of Boaz and Jachin Due will not be a cause for deployment for our forces. A nuclear assault on either PLANT Homeland or the Atlantic Federation Lunar Base is."

"This puts the Alliance at a slight advantage then…" Char said, though his eyes narrowed dangerously. "…however, something tells me that things aren't going to be so clear-cut in the end."

"Puru Twelve! You are a soldier of Zeon, act like one dammit!" Puru Two scolded her younger sister.

"Puru puru! Big sister is being mean!"

* * *

"Please don't be green…" Dr. Elizabeth Tailor whispered as her equipment in the Jade Lancer's medical wing processed Kira Yamato's DNA. The request for a medical examination for the boy from the Zeon personnel had confused all those involved, and aroused the suspicion and curiosity of the Coordinator's present. At that moment, Cagalli, Kira, and the two ZAFT pilots along with a pregnant Shiho were waiting nearby for the results of the DNA test as well as answers for their questions. "…oh hell; this is going to cause trouble, I just know it." She muttered as the indicators flashed green.

"Alright, what's this all about?" Yzak asked belligerently, his arms crossed.

"In that case, please bear with me." The doctor said, taking a deep breath looking at them. "Can you tell me the two key genetic weaknesses of the Coordinator race? This will all make sense in context, I assure you."

"Huh?"

"Well, the first and obvious one is that Third Generation Coordinators are sterile." Kira said. "I've heard that scientists in PLANT are working on the issue, but thus far little progress has been made."

"I'm guessing the second regards the First Generation." Nicol followed through. "Due to the Natural mother's womb being incapable of supporting the genetic modifications of the child, not all the genetic modifications are manifest, or manifest wrongly."

"Correct…" Dr. Tailor said, floating over to a nearby safe. Inputting her access code, she opened it and took out what appeared to be a battered diary of some sort. "…let me tell you a story from almost twenty years ago…of how men and women in pursuit of noble ideals committed unspeakable inhumanities in the pursuit of progress and science… of a man named Ulen Hibiki in the gene labs of Mendel.

"Wait a minute you can't be talking about the Ultiamate Coordinator Project, are you?" Shiho said in surprise. "That's just an urban legend!"

"The Ultimate Coordinator Project; what's that?" Cagalli asked after sharing a puzzled look with Kira.

"It's an urban legend in PLANT." Shiho answered. "Supposedly it was an attempt to create an artificial womb that would allow a First Generation Coordinator to be born with all of his or her genetic modifications active and properly manifested. "No evidence that it was ever real has ever surfaced, and PLANT's scientific community has denied the feasibility of the concept."

"It's no legend." A voice came through the door, causing the five to turn sharply at the door, through the door came Marida and Kushina. "The Jade Lance was sent to the abandoned colony of Mendel to see if there was anything worth salvaging. What they found was an unholy temple built by fools who thought they could play God."

"It can't be… the Ultimate Coordinator Project was real?" Yzak said in shock.

"We found everything." Dr. Tailor said wearily. "All the research data, the artificial wombs, even stillborn children artificially kept from decay. And we found him, the Ultimate Coordinator, the pinnacle of your kind."

"So, who is he?" Nicol asked after a moment, vocalizing the thoughts of everyone present.

"The Professor had a wife." The doctor continued her story, slowly flipping the diary as she did so. "Her name was Via Hibiki, and she was pregnant with twins. As the Ultimate Coordinator Project neared completion, the good doctor one of children from his unwilling wife's womb and placed him in his artificial womb. Despite her please, and despite several near failures, and after countless sacrifices of innocent unborn lives, the Ultimate Coordinator was born." Everyone's eyes except Marida and Kushina were wide with horror, and Cagalli and Shiho stepped back covering their mouths as the doctor stopped flipping through the diary and took out a photo.

"The success of the project was never publicised, as Blue Cosmos furiously targeted the family afterwards." The doctor continued, staring at the photo in her hand. "The children were sent to be adopted into different families. And just in time too, for soon afterwards, the professor and his wife, and the rest of the research team, were all killed by Blue Cosmos."

"That certainly makes sense." Yzak said darkly. "A 'perfect' Coordinator – those bastards would stop at nothing to kill him."

"But they failed. The children survived, and they stand before us as we speak." Kushina said, raising her eyes and looking at them sadly before the doctor gave her the photo to give it to them. Nicol took the photo and saw what appeared to be a brown-haired woman cradling a pair of babies in her arms, one with brown hair and the other with blonde hair. On a thought, Nicol flipped the picture and all their eyes widened as they saw what was written on the back.

"Kira Yamato and Cagalli Yula Athha?" the doctor asked rhetorically, closing the diary and looking away with a faraway expression on her face. "Or should I say Kira and Cagalli Hibiki?"

* * *

**Archangel**

"There they go." Mu observed as the Jade Lancer and the mobile dock flew away. "I still can't believe they've no intention of intervening even if nuclear weapons were used so long as civilian targets aren't attacked."

"But in a way it does kind of make a certain sense." Murrue said sadly. "Nuclear weapons are just that: weapons. There's nothing inherently right or wrong about them, and it all depends on the way they're used, much like mobile suits and guns. A nuclear assault would end this war really quickly…"

"Yeah, it would." Mu interrupted before sighing. "But somehow I don't think a nuclear assault by either side would only focus on military targets. Not with the extremists in charge. I would wonder if the Principality factored that in when they planned their scenarios."

"They probably did. At the very least they're prepared for the worst and have gathered their fleet in preparation for such an eventuality. I just hope it's enough."

"No, it won't and it's going to be up to us to make up for the difference. At the very least, the _Garencieres _is still with us to help."

* * *

**Eternal**

Kira sat on bench overlooking the Eternal's MS hangar, staring blankly down at the photo in his hands. It was impossible, yet there it was. He wasn't just a Coordinator, he was the Ultimate Coordinator. And he was also Cagalli's twin brother.

_Flashback_

_"This is impossible! How do we…?" Yzak began to start a rant when Cagalli pulled out a photo of her own with shaking hands._

_"This…my father gave me this before we left Orb…he also told me, that I had a brother. I just…I didn't think it was…" she stammered out, all the while holding a photo that was virtually identical to the one Nicol was holding._

_His hands shaking, Kira took the photo and flipped it, and there it was again: their first names, just like on the back of the photo the Principality had recovered from Mendel._

_End Flashback_

Lacus entered the room and found him sitting there glassy-eyed staring at the photo the Zeon doctor had allowed him to keep. Sighing, she floated over to him. "Oh Kira…" she said as she gave him a hug from behind. Kira leaned over to her.

"Cagalli told me everything." Lacus said. "But does it really matter? Kira will you knowing that you're the Ultimate Coordinator change who you are?"

"Well no, but…"

"Then there is no reason for you to worry." She told him, smiling as he looked at her. "No matter what happens, you will always be Kira. You will always be the man I fell in love with. And I always will, isn't that right Kira?"

After a moment, he sighed and smiled. Encouraged, Lacus placed her head on his shoulder causing him to an arm around her shoulders. "Thank you Lacus, and I'll always love you too."

* * *

**Gwadan**

**Zeon Combined Fleet**

The Gwadan slowly flew into the Debris Belt and into the Combined Fleet's assembly zone escorted by several squads of Geara Zulus which either moved or destroyed any pieces of debris too large to be safely shunted aside by the Gwadan's thick armour.

Admiral Asuka Katsuragi up from the tactical map of the region as Prince Consort Banagher Links Zabi entered the command deck. "Greetings, your Highness."

Banagher winced at the title; it had been five months since he'd married Mineva and he still wasn't used to being called that…or for that matter, wearing Zeon Imperial Regalia instead of the standard military uniform. The again, as a lieutenant he couldn't exactly oversee a large-scale military operation, as such he would represent the Zeon Throne as Prince Consort in Admiral Katsuragi's command staff.

"What's our situation?" Banagher asked.

"We've arrived at the assembly zone; currently the Combined Fleet is eighty percent combat ready" An officer nearby replied, passing him several written reports. "The Alliance continues to rearm their fleets on the Moon, but ZAFT has been suspiciously quiet."

"Considering how this whole affair is suspiciously reminiscent of the One Year War, I'm all but certain that they probably have something along the lines of the Solar Ray up their sleeve, or are preparing it as we speak." Banagher snorted, and the admiral nodded her agreement.

"That certainly seems likely." She said. "Unfortunately, short of nuclear weapons we have nothing to counter them in kind, and I find it unlikely nuclear release will be authorized at any point in the near future."

"True…" Banagher agreed, looking at the data on the Combined Fleet. "…one hundred warships and over five hundred mobile suits – one of the largest fleets assembled in Zeon history since the One Year War. I wonder how well we'll fare in our first real battle in this world."

* * *

**NA: There you have it! And now for the members of the Zabi Dynasty:**

**Sovereign Mineva Lao Zabi (18 Years of Age)**

**Prince Consort Banagher Links Zabi (18 years of Age)**

**Crown Princess Geneva Ra Zabi – born July 25 UC 99/CE 71**

**Date the Gwadan joins the Combined Fleet in the Debris Belt – August 15 UC 99/CE 71**

**Don't forget to review! SIEG ZEON!**


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